Aftershock
by Mayu Kitsune
Summary: Times of peace don’t exactly leave much for soldiers to do, but for one team of mercenaries, a young wing elf may offer them more adventure than they bargained for. Read and Review please!
1. Accidental Hero

_**A/N [BIG update Oct. 1st 2010] ~ **__ I'm back! Yeah you may notice a few things different. Not much though. I decided that I didn't like my writing style, and so, revised the WHOLE thing! The story line is no different, but the wording of my sentences... well, hopefully got better. I also tried to add a few more details since I'm not a very descriptive writer and sometimes that hurts the story. Anyways, have fun reading! Please do review! It's the only way I know this made any difference!  
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_As always, Kudos to anyone that can name any of the in game skills I use throughout the story!_

_Enjoy._

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**1**

**Accidental Hero**

I sat up in bed, the night slipping away from me. The moon shone brightly through my window and filtered a ghostly white through the silk curtains. It had to be midnight already, but still, I couldn't sleep. This restless feeling had taken hold of me for reasons that I couldn't even begin to figure out. No headache, no pain at all, just some sort of forboding feeling despite the calm of the night.

I let out a heavy sigh. Tomorrow was my birthday! My sixteenth birthday to be exact; I didn't want to be dead on my feet for the whole thing! My birthday was the only day that my grandmother could spend more than just a few minutes at a time with me and I wanted to be awake for every moment!

After getting dressed I made my way quietly out of our treetop home and onto one of the thick branches. The air outside was cool and crisp and a wonderfully clear early spring night sky awaited my wings. Perhaps I merely needed to show myself that everything was fine, a quick flight normally did the trick to clear my mind. Then maybe sleep wouldn't so far off.

I let my pure white wings appear and took off into the night. I felt at home in the sky, just like any Wing Elf. How could anything ever feel free being confined to the ground? Flying was such a sensation, such an exhilarating experience. I knew how to fly before I ever knew how to walk, if that was at all possible. It was what my parents had always told me.

But that was before…

I shook my head to shove the thought aside and focus on flight, on the gentle breeze beneath my wings.

Plume City was quiet beneath me, a breathtaking sight at night actually, when everything seemed to be surrounded in an ethereal glow. I took a quick swoop through the roots of the enormous tree Plume was built around. Who knew how old it was or how much it had weathered, but for generations the town square had been nestled between it's roots. It was odd to see this normally busy area so empty. Even at this time of night, when everyone else slept, the lights still glowed.

I left it behind, flying back out into the open sky. Few sentries stood guard during these times of peace, considerably less than I remembered before when the wraith wars still raged on. They didn't even notice me as I flew into the outskirts. I would make one circle around the city and be back before anyone ever noticed I was missing

_Catriona…_

I stopped mid-flight, whirling to look for the source of that voice. I found no one. Even though that whisper had sounded so close, right in my ear, I saw no one there. My eyebrows furrowed. So much for clearing my mind like I had intended. If anything the same feeling that kept me from sleeping had returned with a vengeance.

_Just the wind… or I must really be tired… _I thought to myself. I pressed forward again, shaking off the feeling of being watched. Now I was just paranoid. I knew I was tired, that's all it was for sure.

_Catriona…_

Again, that whisper came and again I stopped. "W-who's there?" I demanded though I failed miserably to sound demanding. My heart thumped loudly in my chest and I tried to calm it. No reason to panic. There had to be an explination, a reasonable explination.

One that I would find in the morning.

I turned to head back home where it looked like I still wouldn't get a wink of sleep but something stopped me in my tracks. My ears were suddenly filled with a dreadful noise! Where was it coming from? What was it? I clenched my eyes shut, covering my ears but nothing helped!

Images flashed through my head, horrible ones! What was happening to me? I could hear screams, see flames, smell the smoke… Why did I see my home, the beautiful city of the wing elves, burning? What would attack us?

When I opened my eyes again, I was shocked to find the ground flying up at me faster than I would have liked. During that odd spell my wings had folded and I was now plummeting!

_Pull it together Cat! _I mentally screamed at myself. I managed to catch the air beneath my wings to cushion my fall but it wasn't quite enough for me to catch myself. My legs couldn't handle the impact of my sloppy landing and I landed with a painful thud in the dirt.

"What in the world…" I muttered, flinching and picking myself back up. My head still hurt, my ears rang but the screaming and the noise was gone. _What was that?_

"Lady Catriona!" A voice shouted behind me.

I still hadn't gotten all the way up yet. I glanced over a shoulder to see that two of the sentries had apparently noticed me and now rushed to my aid.

_Great… Grandmother's going to kill me_. I thought

"Are you alright? We heard a scream and then saw you falling!" one of them, a young man said. They both helped me to my feet

"I'm fine. Really." I tried to reassure them.

"But you're shaking."

My eyebrows furrowed as I took notice of this fact. My legs still felt weak underneath me and it took all the concentration I could muster to keep my hands steady.

"We should take you to a healer."

"What? No! I'll be fine." I said quickly.

"What happened to you up there Lady Catriona?"

"Uh… a, um… wing cramp?" I offered with a nervous smile, earning me skeptical glances from both of the sentries. I guess they weren't buying that.

"You're going to a healer, we can't let the elder's only grandchild go home injured." one of them said, taking a light grip on my arm.

I frowned. "Injured? But I'm not injured."

"Your hands are all scraped up."

"But it's just a scrape." I argued. "Honestly I'm fine."

My grandmother would never let it go if she knew I was out by myself late at night! I was the last family member she had left and so was she mine. I would never hear the end of it. How could I worry her like that?

The two began to lead me along, not taking their attention off me for a second. I was in trouble and I knew it, but that wasn't the only forboding feeling pressing from the back of my mind. Something else settled in the pit of my stomach, that same feeling from earlier, the one that kept me awake. If anything it had worsened since it's return... since that whisper.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. There was something about the night now. It was too quiet suddenly, not even a cricket chirped as if they knew to hide from something that we didn't yet know of. Movement caught my eye as a few trees suddenly swayed just a bit in the forest right outside the city, not far from where we were. That wouldn't have been unusual except that no wind blew, only a slight breeze. That _couldn't _have caused what I saw.

"D-did you see that?" I stammered. "There something out there."

"If you think you can distract us from-"

"No! I'm being serious! I just saw the trees move!"

It seemed that this time they both heard the noise and a section of the forest once again shook. All three of us stood there, staring out at it for a moment.

The bigger of the two guards began toward the edge of the town, bow drawn and loaded with an arrow, ready to fire while the other stayed with me. He made sure to stay in front of me as his partner investigated. "Do you see anything?"

"Aiden…" the other replied after a moment, a warning in his tone.

"What?"

"Don't make any sudden moves… but take Lady Catriona out of here."

He looked confused. "What is it?"

That was when I saw it, two burning embers in the darkness of the forest. The eyes of a monster, a large one. I could feel the color drain from my face and my heart begin pumping again. I found myself unable to move as that fiery gaze rested on me.

"Come on…" The sentry named Aiden said to me, pulling gently on my arm.

I began to move back not taking my attention off the large scorpion like creature making its way into town from the forest that surrounded it. It moved rather slowly at first and even though it had been looking right at me it didn't seem to have seen me. Had it seen any of us at all?

My heart caught in my throat as my shaky legs proved clumsy. I was falling! I had tripped trying to walk backwards, even the sentry looked horrified. I landed on my bum hard, and though I had managed to stay quiet, the creature's attention immediately snapped back to me.

It let out a horrid screech before lunging forward, the very ground shaking as each of it's eight legs powered it forward. Right toward me.

"Hang on!" The sentry shouted at me, grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet. He didn't bother trying to get me to run, instead he picked me up and took flight with a flourish of hawk-like feathers.

Despite his every effort, It didn't look like we would climb high enough in time to be out of the monster's reach! "Look out!" I couldn't help but scream as I saw the scorpion tail ready to strike at us.

But it stopped. The other sentry shot at it, getting it's attention long enough for our escape.

Back-up arrived within minutes of the commotion as I was finally put down in a safe place on the balcony of my home. The sentry didn't say a word before diving back into the fray to help his friend. Archers, a good many of them showed. They all fired on the creature, but the arrows didn't seem to get through the monster's tough exterior; it only irritated it more.

I watched on, from my perch wide eyed. This was horrible! The monster began to wreck homes, anything that lay in its path! The whole town was awake now and chaos erupted as people panicked. The rest of the town guard scrambled around to get the people to the higher levels of the city while their comrades kept the creature busy.

I felt helpless to do anything! I could only watch as the monster, whipped into a frenzy, began to destroy the whole bottom level of the town!

"Catriona! What's going-" my grandmother began. She had hurried outdoors, wrapped up in a robe. She paused when she looked below, her eyes wide. "No, it can't be…"

"Do you know what's going on?" I questioned

She ignored me, "Catriona, back inside. Now." She took hold of my arm as not to give me time to protest.

I almost gladly did what she said, I didn't want to be out here, I didn't want to see any of it! I didn't even want to see what I had already seen! While I had watched on helpless already, people had died, trampled and attacked by this beast!

A sudden cry caught my attention. It sounded like… like a child.

"What was that?" I said quickly, pulling my way back to the edge of the balcony.

"Catriona, please, back inside!"

My eyes scanned the fast moving crowd below and that's when I saw the source of those cries. A small child stayed near the wreckage of what I could only guess was his home. "Momma!" He cried at the top of his lungs. The creature so far refused to be herded any one direction and was now headed his way! He would be trampled if he stayed there! Even as high up as I was, I was the closest to him from what I could see.

Wasn't someone going to help him!

I pulled my arm free from my grandmother. It was time to stop being helpless! If no one else was going to do something then I would!

"Catriona!" Grandmother shouted after me but I had already leaped from the edge, summoning my wings during my dive instead of before.

I nearly bit the dirt again upon reaching the ground with yet another rough landing. I hurried over to the child, grabbing his arm. He looked back at me, wide eyed. I had obviously startled him.

"Come on, let's go!" I said quickly.

"No!" He shouted, much to my surprise, jerking his arm free from my grip. He pulled at one of the timbers in a futile attempt to move it. "Momma!" he cried again.

I swallowed hard as I caught sight of someone's arm among the demolished home. Blood covered pale skin, and leaked out from beneath the wreckage. The child's mother? She had still been inside when… and there was...

I felt as though I would be sick.

Another of those blood curdling screeches caught my attention and I realized now that I had just wasted precious time staring in horror at something that couldn't be helped. Attracted by the little boy's screams the monster was headed straight for us! And this time there was no room for escape.

The little boy went wide-eyed and pale as he seemed to realize the same. There was no time to run! I did the only thing I could think of doing. I wrapped my arms protectively around him and turned my back to the monster, creating as much of a shell as possible with my wings. Maybe there was still a chance for him if not for me. "Just hang on please!" I shouted, clenching my eyes shut against the pain I was sure would come.

"Catriona!" I could hear my grandmother shout in horror.

There was a loud crash, like thunder, and then suddenly silence.

Well… that wasn't as painful as I thought. Was that it? Was I dead?

No. I couldn't be. My hands still hurt from where they had been scraped earlier. But if I wasn't dead then what had happened to the monster?

I slowly opened my eyes, daring to glance behind me where the creature had surely been ready to rip me apart. "Woah!" I shouted. Before I had time to stop myself I was a few feet off the ground. It was right there! The creature!

But it wasn't moving.

Cautiously I landed, still carrying the small boy who also stared at the monster in shock. It was dead? Who killed it? I had to thank them! They had just saved my life!

I searched the crowd of people that had now gathered for my hero but I got nothing but bewildered stares. Surely one of them had taken care of it right? One of the clerics that had been throwing their magic to protect as many people as they could, or one of the archers that bravely fought to try and drive the creature off. It had to be one of them, but no one at all had come forward.

I didn't like the looks of this.

"W-what happened?" I questioned, almost sure that no one could hear me for my voice didn't come out strong at all.

"You killed it…" One of the archers answered.


	2. Gone

**2**

**Gone**

I didn't remember much after that shocking revelation. I was in a daze. It couldn't have been me! All I had done was get scared out of my wits; recklessly run into a situation that I knew I was helpless to do anything about! I had hoped against hope that things would turn out alright.

I remembered being praised for my actions, an event I never saw!

What was going on?

Just as I had expected, sleep escaped me, even as the hours ticked on into the early morning. How could I sleep now? So many questions, not enough answers! After tossing and turning between my blankets for another hour, I stood finally, too restless to do much else but pace.

My mind went over those last few moments over and over again. The most powerful cleric I knew was my grandmother, and even she seemed surprised, convinced that it was me that summoned that powerful lightning attack.

She had trained me to be a cleric as well after my parents had both passed away, both of them archers and both killed during the Wraith Wars. She didn't want me to follow in my parents' footsteps, so being a cleric it was. I was taught healing, herbs, potions, but not how to fry a monster! The last thing my grandmother had ever wanted was for me to fight.

I let out a heavy sigh. The sun would be up soon.

Water? Perhaps that would help me… yes… water… I had found myself rather thirsty once my mind calmed down enough to even register my own discomfort.

I began out of my room and down the hallways of our home quietly as not to disturb anyone else that may be sleeping. But it seemed that I wasn't the only one awake. The lamps in the living area still burned, casting a soft light onto the floor. I paused right outside of my own doorway, looking pensively in that direction. The low voices of my grandmother and some other person drifted down the hallway to me… they were carrying on a hushed conversation. Something that I probably wasn't supposed to hear. My curiousity had been peaqued ... I had to know what they were saying.

My grandmother knew something she wasn't telling me. I didn't really need water! I needed answers!

I snuck up to the door and did my best to stay out of sight.

"No, not my granddaughter, she's not one of them!" I could hear my grandmother exclaim though not very loudly.

"You saw it as plainly as I did. Her wings, they glowed, and then that rain of lightning." The priest argued.

They were talking about me, but why was my grandmother so upset?

"She is staying here! We can protect her."

"No, we can't. You remember what the priest before me foresaw; what people would do out of greed. Now would be a vulnerable time in the aftermath of the Wraith Wars." The priest said in a cold tone. One that I had never heard him use. His aged features were stony, not kind and gentle like I always remembered. "We've worked all these years to keep our people safe. We can't make exceptions, not even for your family. I'm sorry, Edyta."

Exceptions? My eyebrows furrowed at this troubling exchange. My grandmother looked devastated but what for? Had I done something wrong?

"She's all the family I have left… I'm not going to abandon her."

The priest put a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I can arrange it so that it won't even happen close by you, you'll have no part in it."

"_A part in what!" _I just wanted to jump out and shout in frustration but I forced myself to stay put. The answer I searched for still wasn't clear yet.

Just then, a hand wrapped around my arm, pulling me roughly from the doorway. What was this! My eyes widened and I made to scream but a hand over my mouth kept me from doing so. Instead my intended scream came out as a muffled whimper, one not loud enough to be heard by either my grandmother or the priest.

I began to struggle, digging my fingernails into the arm of my potential kidnapper, whoever they were. They let out a quiet hiss of pain. _Yes! Let me go! _My mind screamed. I froze though, my struggling coming to a dead stop as I felt the cold steel of a small blade against my neck.

"I wouldn't want your grandmother to find you dead right here, would you?" a voice whispered in my ear, so quietly that my own hearing barely registered it despite the closeness.

My eyes stung as tears gathered in the corners of them. My heart felt as though it would just give out, my legs already had. I was in shock! What had gone wrong? What had I done to deserve this?

"I'm not just going to _let _you do this!" I heard my grandmother say sternly.

"I'm sorry, it's already too late by now. I was afraid that you'd change your mind." the priest replied, the last thing I heard before my grand disappearance. As I was flown away from my home, I watched it grow more distant. Somewhere my gut told me... this was the last my eyes would ever see of it.


	3. Fight or Flight

**3**

**Fight or Flight**

It's always said that in near death situations, it's when one's life flashes before their eyes. I do believe I know now what they speak of. My earliest memories of my grandmother, my parents, all of it filled my head. Who knows why emotions do things like that. Perhaps it was a distraction? A distraction from the inevitable? Some sort of defense mechanism to keep me from going insane before my death?

I didn't know.

What I _did _know was that I wanted one of the sentries to spot me and my kidnapper as he dragged me out of the city, away from my home.

But it didn't happen. Not that I could tell. No alarm was raised, no shouts, no running to my rescue. As the minutes ticked by and my home grew further away the anticipation of what lay ahead for me grew more and more intolerable.

I nearly jumped when my kidnapper finally spoke.

"Such a shame, you would have made a beautiful wife for some lucky man." he said with a sigh. Nothing about his tone sounded very sincere and even though we were out of earshot of anyone he still spoke in a half whisper.

"So you _are _going to kill me…"

"Don't worry. If you don't give me any trouble I promise I'll make it quick." he said in an oddly reassuring tone. "Wouldn't want to make something so beautiful suffer."

"But why?" I questioned, my voice nearly giving out on me. "Why do this to me?"

"It's nothing personal princess. I didn't ask questions. I'm getting paid a decent price, that's all I needed to know."

"By who?"

He didn't answer my second question.

So this was it? I would die and never know any of the reasons why? I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It took all my will power just to get my muddled thoughts in order. I was terrified of that blade that he would drag across my neck if I put up a fight, but he would probably use the same knife to kill me in the end anyway!

No one was going to save me, I had to save myself.

I swallowed back the lump of fear that had formed in my throat and concentrated. I had to know something that could help… anything. I had never fought a day in my life! I knew a few defensive spells but I'd never had to use them before, they certainly weren't my specialty but I'd have to remember them.

Then it hit me. A plan, one not very well thought out, but there was no time! If I didn't do something now it would be the death of me!

"Were there supposed to be other people with you?" I questioned the stranger suddenly.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression. "No, why? What are you talking about?"

"O-over there, I saw something, didn't you see it? I think a sentry saw you."

"What the…" he mumbled to himself. He didn't look back right away but doubt soon got the better of him.

_Now's the time! _my thoughts screamed when he turned his head away from me to look behind him. A sudden flash of purple light caught his attention but not quick enough to stop my spell. He let out an "oomph" as the spell erupted in every direction and the shock hit him, stunning him for a moment. It all happened so quickly! The next thing I knew I was falling! Both of us were falling but I was free!

I summoned my wings, pounding at the air with them as fast as I possibly could. I had to get away! Far away, as far as possible before he could shake off that spell. I headed back toward the city. "Help!" I shouted at the top of my lungs now that nothing kept me from it. "Someone! Please!"

We were so far away from the town but I still hoped someone would hear me that could help.

A sudden sharp pain ripped through my right wing and I couldn't help but scream. I'd been hit by an arrow, which meant that he was no longer stunned. Not stunned and angry.

_Another spell! Think! _I commanded myself even as my own blood began to stain my wing. I had to do something before he fired another shot! My defensive spell began to take effect just as another arrow streaked toward me. This one didn't touch me, deflected by a swirling mass of feathers.

I did it! It worked! But it was exhausting…

I sank down below the tree line, unable to stay up any higher. I was running out of steam and my wing, it hurt! Blood flowed freely from the wound, painting crimson streams across my wing. The arrow had wedged almost directly into the joint, a disabling blow. The pain caused me to make another rough landing, once again scraping up my hands and knees.

I only paused for a mere second to pull myself together and push the pain and fatigue to the back of my mind but that second was all he needed. The rustling of nearby leaves caught my attention and when I looked up, there he was, silhouetted against the moon like some form of demon in front of me. My heart nearly stopped.

I immediately tried to scramble to my feet but it was useless. My eyes went wide as he seized me by the neck, roughly pulling me to my feet.

"I didn't _want _you to suffer." he growled at me, his voice still a half-whisper. He slammed my back hard against a tree, so hard that it almost knocked the wind from me. "You should have been grateful and given me no problems like I _wanted _you to!" Even with his face only inches from mine I could barely make it out… no color could I see except for his hair, short and silvery white. The most I had seen of him since he had taken me away.

I clawed at his arm, tried in vain to pull it away from my neck. I could barely breathe! I began to kick, I would have screamed if I could! I had gotten so far, dying now was not an option.

"Hold still!" he shouted at me, but I refused. My every thought and instinct screamed at me to do anything to get away. I couldn't get it together enough for another spell! I had no energy left, no control left even. Even with such a helpless situation, even with death staring me in the eyes my instinct wouldn't let me give in.

Perhaps I could last long enough.

I let out a strangled yelp as he pinned my one good wing to the tree behind me with the nose of his crossbow.

"I know what'll keep you still." he said in a dangerous tone.

He wouldn't! I shook my head. "No! Please!" I managed to force out but he didn't listen. He released the arrow and the crossbow slammed it through my wing and pinned it to the tree behind me. I screamed, or tried to. It wasn't very loud but I did just as he said. I froze up, didn't move anymore except for my trembling in fear.

Black spots began to plague my line of vision and my own heart pounded loudly in my ears. Was he going to strangle me to death? Was this how I would go?

No, it didn't look that way…

He once again put away his weapon and drew out the knife. He let go of my neck and I gasped for air, but any kind of relief was short lived. With a hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming he did as he had threatened. He dragged the blade hard across my neck before finally releasing me.

My hand immediately went to my neck and my legs gave out beneath me, causing me to slide down to the ground to rest at the base of the tree. I would have fallen completely over had it not been for my wing still pinned with an arrow.

I could feel my own warm blood trickle from the wound, and through my fingers. It was the worst feeling… My memory couldn't find a worse one.

"Let this be a lesson for the next life… princess." the assassin spat, slinging the blood from his blade and putting it away. He then took to the skies… leaving me alone.

Even through the pain I hoped against hope that someone would help me. This couldn't be the end! I kept my tenacious grip on life for as long as I could. I wanted to see my grandmother again. I wanted to hug her and tell her I loved her, not something I had gotten to do since that enraged monster had attacked the town. But sitting there, as my strength slowly left me, a second felt like forever.

_Please... _I thought in a silent prayer, all I had left that I could do. _If there's someone out there that can, please help me. I tried... I really did._

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"Ahhhh!" I screamed, sitting straight up, my breathing frantic. I felt at my neck, where I had been injured before but I felt nothing but a smooth patch of skin, a bit smoother than the rest. What was it? I couldn't see it!

"Calm down, please, you're okay!" a voice pleaded with me. I jerked at a soft touch on my shoulder, recoiled as if it had hurt me.

A young man sat beside me, the look on his face concerned. He looked familiar to me… it took a moment for my brain to make the connction. He was one of the sentries that had helped me the night before, the one that had carried me away to safety. The safety that I had recklessly run out of only moments later.

"You're alright…" he repeated, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy searching my surroundings for some kind of answer. What happened to me?

The area was brighter than before as the early morning sun began to make it's daily journey above the horizon into the sky. In the light my surroundings were much easier to make out. I was in the forest still. I could feel the color drain from my face when I saw one of the trees… an arrow broken in it, a trail of blood had run down the crevasses in the bark.

So it wasn't all a dream.

But how was I alive?

"It's good to see you're finally awake." a familiar voice said behind me. I turned to see my grandmother, sitting on the ground, her back resting against a tree. She looked exhausted.

"Grandmother!" I exclaimed. I got to my feet, running to her side in an instant, failing to even think about it before throwing my arms around her in a hug, one she returned lightly. I couldn't keep from crying either. This time it was out of relief, pure relief that I was alive! I hugged her like I'd wanted to when I thought for sure death was around the corner.

"It's okay." my grandmother said. She sounded as though she would cry herself, or that she had been already. "I'm _so _sorry I let this happen to you. You must have been so scared..."

Words escaped me at the moment, all I could do was nod with my face burried in her shoulder. Her sleeve was probably already soaked through with my tears and the sound of her voice, trying to fight back the urge to cry herself… It only made me cry more, as if I had to make up for what she wasn't letting go.

"I owe you an explanation, I know I do. You need to know everything." she said, swallowing hard. "I need this off my chest and you need to hear it... this is all my fault..."


	4. The Innocent Die

**4**

**The Innocent Die**

I wiped at my tear-filled eyes as I pulled away from her, my eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?" She didn't look at me in the eyes as I stared at her in complete confusion. Did this have anything to do with the conversation overheard last night? "Grandmother… I don't understand."

"For years people that show the type of power that you have… they've been killed." she said quietly. "There would be more of you. Your ability is still rare, but I've helped to… I…"

It didn't seem that she was able to keep the tears back now, but I was on the verge of answers! Perhaps I should have been more considerate but the words came out before I had time to stop myself. "You what?" I demanded.

"Along with the priest I've ordered the deaths of many of our kind. All of them like you."

There was a silence in the clearing. Only the sounds of birds could be heard for minutes. My grandmother? The elder had been ordering the killing of our own kind? "But why? What for?"

My grandmother swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I don't have much time to tell you what I know so listen well. Please."

I nodded to her, eyebrows furrowed.

"A long time ago, before you were even born, before the wraiths came back, we had a priest with the power of prophecy. He had visions, they said that it was our god himself that sent him these images."

Another pause as she seemed to try to catch her breath. What was wrong with her? My gut didn't like this at all, she was in such a hurry and seemed paler than usual. I began to say something but she stopped me as soon as I opened my mouth.

"I know you're worried Catriona, but please just listen. The priest foresaw such death and destruction upon all the races. Something unlike anything we've seen yet. For years he prayed that he would be shown the way to stop this all from happening.

"Finally he was sent another vision only moments before his passing. One of a wing elf with such power, a rain of lightning that would destroy the bonds of some horrible creature. It was a rare ability and… and…"

"The only sure way to keep it from happening was to get rid of the power…" I finished for her. I didn't know what to feel. I was angry, upset, in shock and disbelief. This couldn't be true! My grandmother was not a murderer!

"I'm sorry Catriona… It's not something I'm proud of."

My thoughts were just not going around this! The priest too! People that had been wonderful to me all my life and now at least one of them wanted me dead! My stomach churned and I felt sick. The thought that I could possibly be something to bring about death and destruction didn't help matters much either.

"Is that all you know?" I questioned after a moment, nearly afraid to hear anymore. Maybe I would have been better off without the answers I had wanted so badly. I would never see my grandmother or the priest in the same light ever again. It was as if the glass that I looked at life through had been cracked into a million pieces, and with each passing second the cracks grew even more numerous.

"In this vision were also towers … surrounded by snow… somewhere to the north in human territory. You can't go near them." my grandmother said to me, her brow furrowed in thought. "And you can't stay here. That's all I know for sure."

"Then where am I supposed to go?" I demanded. My jittery emotions made it impossible to sit still, I now stood, pacing. My nerves were shot, I felt on the verge of just panicking and falling victim to my building anxiety.

"Go to the walled city of Archosaur and don't let anyone know of your powers. It's a secure city, you could stay there until this is over. I will send word to the elder there."

"And what about you? What are you going to do?"

"I will stay here. I can find another solution to this…" she said though she didn't sound very sure of herself. "I'll for you when it's safe to return."

"I hope it won't be too long…" I murmured.

She didn't reply, but turned her attention to the sentry. He had been so quiet, I had nearly forgotten he was there. "Aiden." she prompted him.

He looked up from whatever thought he was having. He looked just as bewildered and shocked as myself though it showed less on his face and more in his deep blue eyes. "Yes?"

"Please escort Catriona to Archosaur safely… I appreciate your help, I promise that I'll reward you kindly when you get back if you could just do this one thing for me." she said pleadingly.

He nodded slowly. "I will…" he said with a hint of hesitation. I could only guess what he could have been thinking. Regardless of the secrets he had heard, my grandmother was still the elder.

"Thank you… I will let your family know that I've sent you on a quest so they won't worry."

"Right…"

"You have to go now, there's not time to waste, they'll be looking for me." she said quickly to us both, me and my suddenly decided escort. "Please be safe."

I felt horrible leaving my grandmother there. But she was right, someone would come for her. She would be rushed to healers, there should have been no reason to worry. "I… I still love you Grandmother…" I said quietly.

"I love you too Catriona. Now go, hurry."

* * *

The elder sat alone in the forest for some time, trying to keep herself awake. The rough bark of the tree she leaned against hurt her back but she didn't care. So long as her granddaughter was safe. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she heard footsteps along the forest floor. Someone had come for her at last.

"So you revived her did you?" A familiar voice stated. She looked up to see the priest emerge from the forest into the clearing. He stopped in front of her, looking down at her with a stone cold gaze.

A sinking feeling settled itself in her gut and she struggled to find the words to speak. "I-I did. There has to be another way than this… this slaughter of innocent people."

"There is no other way."

"How can you be so sure?" she demanded, using the tree as leverage to stand up right. She was so weak. If she didn't find some kind of help soon then she would surely die from how exhausted healing Catriona had made her. She only ever had one revive spell in her. It was all any cleric could take. If they didn't get help soon after they would have given up their own life to save someone else.

"Look at us, Cale. In trying to prevent a monster from being unleashed, we ourselves have become heartless monsters." she breathed, barely able to speak louder than a whisper.

"And look at _you _Edyta. You've become weak."

"If you mean weak as in I have regained my conscience then yes, perhaps I have."

He glared at her. "You've made a foolish mistake. Now those premonitions could very well come true and it's all because of your rash actions. You're a traitor to us all."

She stiffened at the harsh word. Traitor? "I will find another way."

"This _is _the only way! What we've been doing for years! It's the only way to keep the world safe from this demon!"

She looked into his eyes as he snapped at her, nearly scared by what she saw. There was barely a trace of the old priest that she knew left. This had eaten at him so much for all these years. Had she at one point in time been the same way? It had taken her own granddaughter's death to wake her up? "You've let this drive you to the edge." she murmured.

"You know just as well as I do that my predecessor was never wrong. His visions, they were all accurate, everything he said happened or would have happened had we not taken steps to prevent it."

There was a silence between the both of them before he spoke again. "Perhaps you made this mistake because you didn't see what I saw."

"What are you saying?" she questioned. The world around her was spinning as she struggled to remain standing.

"He somehow showed me his vision. It was horrifying. People dying, towns burning. Men, women, and children alike slaughtered or kept as slaves! That last vision is what killed him Edyta!" he said, his voice getting increasingly louder. "When I tried to help him this is what I saw!"

She stared at him in shock. It was all she could do, what could she possibly say to him? Truthfully she was afraid to speak for what he might do.

"And now because of your granddaughter, because you had to save her, that vision could be a reality." he snarled. "I was wrong to hire an assassin, I should have done it myself. I would have made sure there was nothing left of her for you to heal."

His words stung. They scared, hurt, and infuriated her all at the same time. "I won't let you harm her. Never again." she said through clenched teeth.

"You won't have a choice." he said, turning to leave. He summoned his wings and they came in a flurry of white feathers. "Perhaps she isn't too far away already."

"No! You won't touch her!" the elder cried. She didn't think about her next action nor did she care, she wanted to take him down! If that was the only way to keep Catriona safe then so be it! She lunged at the priest, latching onto him but just as the electricity from her spell made it to her fingertips she was thrown backwards.

A quick moment of pain took her as she came into hard contact with a tree, and then, there was nothing.


	5. No Reason to Worry

**5**

**No Reason to Worry**

Hours ticked by as Aiden and I both flew and everything familiar to me faded into the distance. My wings ached! Never before had I ever had reason to fly so far! I forced myself to continue flying even though my limits were fast approaching. Gliding on the breeze whenever the chance arose helped, but only so much. We had traveled the first small bit on foot to make sure that we wouldn't be seen. Now that I thought on it, walking would be wonderful right now…

"Lady Catriona, are you alright?" Aiden said from ahead of me. I looked up from my thoughts to see that he had stopped in front of me a good ways. Had I honestly fallen that far behind?

"I-I'm okay." I said breathlessly as I finally caught up to him.

He frowned at me. "I think it's safe to take a break now. We can take a small one next to the riverside and follow the river the rest of the way to arrowhead on foot. Once we're there it'll be safer to rest." he offered.

"Sounds like a wonderful idea." I replied. Even my voice sounded tired…

I landed as softly as possible, almost as if to ease down due to the weakness in my wings. I must have looked like a wounded duck, lacking too much energy for grace, or even embarrassment for that matter.

Aiden circled a few times, as if to check out our surroundings. He waited for me to touch down first before he folded his hawk-like wings and went into a steep dive. He caught himself at the last possible second with a flourish of feathers as he unfurled his wings to catch the air and slow his descent to nearly a stop before his feet ever touched the ground… and after such a long flight! I was momentarily jealous.

But that didn't matter now, I needed water and a break!

I knelt down next to the calm clear water of the river, drinking from my hands. It was so refreshing! Never in my life had I been so thankful for something so commonplace. And the forest around us, it seemed so peaceful…

I nearly hated it.

Everything in my life, everything I knew, all of it had changed in the matter of a few hours. How could something go on unaffected? I wish I was so unfazed as the forest. I leaned against a tree to finally rest my weary body. A short rest, then moving again… then sleep.

Aiden waited until I was through before taking a drink himself. He had been silent most of the way here and even before that. Come to think of it… what was he even thinking about right now? He couldn't have been entirely happy with this. Who would be? It didn't cross my mind that I might have been staring at him while I thought.

He looked back at me over his shoulder after a moment. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Is there, um… something wrong?"

"What?" And then I went red. I hadn't meant to stare! "Oh, no! N-nothing's wrong I just…"

He didn't look entirely enthused as I stammered. He probably thought I was very strange by now.

"I-I was thinking and just happened to be looking that way, I wasn't staring at you or anything!" Ugh, how embarrassing! I always did this when I felt awkward in any way. The rambling about everything and yet nothing all at once. "I-I was um.. Just thinking that, uh, I should…. A-apologize."

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Apologize for what?"

"For you getting dragged into this mess." I said with a sigh.

He cracked a small smile and I watched him turn back to the water. What did he think was so funny? He shook his head, before getting up from the riverside and taking a seat close by. "You worry too much."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not a bother, right now it's my duty to get you to Archosaur. No use in worrying about it."

"I suppose you're right…" I said slowly.

"Besides, I've never been to Archosaur but I've heard it's amazing."

I frowned a little. A silence feel but my curious thoughts weren't yet satisfied. "So, nothing you heard is even bothering you? At all?"

Once again there was silence and his carefree air seemed to fade some. He let out a heavy sigh, as if he really hadn't wanted to think on it. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up. Perhaps I was being selfish? A little jealous that he seemed so nonchalant.

"It's not that it doesn't bother me." he said finally, breaking the depressing silence. "Deep down I guess it bothers me a lot to know that someone so trusted could…" His sentence died off as he noted my worsening expression. He continued to his next thought. "But why worry about what you can't change? I can't change what happened in the past, the only thing I can do now is help the future."

How true. "Yeah… You're right." I said softly. "I guess I'm just shaken up and tired."

"You'll be fine. It's understandable why you'd be upset. I don't blame you for it." he said, getting to his feet. He brushed himself off and offered me a hand. "But if you're feeling better now we should get going. We need to get to Arrowhead before dark, so we can rest and I can get a map. I think it would help if we knew which way we were going."

I hesitantly allowed him to help me up. "Yeah, I'm fine to walk now. Thanks" I did feel much better after that brief rest and some water. At least now my heart didn't feel like it was just going to quit on me and my breathing had returned to normal. I was tired but he was right. Once at Arrowhead manor I could pass out and sleep for as long as I needed to.

At least one of us seemed convinced everything would turn out fine. No reason to worry.

* * *

Cale sat in his study, scribbling down an order furiously, his handwriting sloppy on the page. He hunched over it, his panic clouding his thoughts.

No matter how much he tried he couldn't get it out of his head. All the guilt. He had killed the Elder, Edyta. He hadn't meant for it to happen that way! He was just going to leave her there! Her death would have been her own fault for meddling with the way things were; for bringing that grandchild of hers back to life when she _knew_ that her actions could bring about catastrophe. If she hadn't tried to attack him then her blood wouldn't be on his hands!

"So, the old bird's dead is she? And no one ever found that pretty little granddaughter of hers?" A voice stated from his door.

The priest nearly jumped out of his skin. He knew that voice, that disturbing half-whisper tone. "That would be none of your business. You've been paid, why are you still here?" he all but snapped.

The silver haired man held up his hands in his defense. "Trust me, there's no need to be so guarded. I just stopped by to see if there was anyone else you would want taken down."

"I don't need anyone else disposed of. I have things under control."

"Oh, but Lady Catriona's still out there isn't she?"

The priest didn't respond, only continued to scrawl out his order at a feverish pace. It was an order that would be carried out by soldiers at the city of plume.

The assassin leaned over his shoulder. He scanned the page and his silver eyebrows went up. "How very underhanded of you." he commented. "I'm impressed."

"Shut up and leave!" Cale growled, getting to his feet.

The assassin took a few steps back. "Fine, fine. I was only going to offer you a deal. A two for one, seeing as how you've framed one of your own soldiers for the elder's untimely death. It would certainly take any suspicions away from yourself and further incriminate your scapegoat."

The priest didn't answer for a while. A way for all suspicion to be taken care of? How?

The assassin let out a sigh. "But of course since you don't want to hear it I suppose I'll be leaving now." he said, turning to leave the same way he had come in.

"N-no, wait."

"Yes?"

The priest hesitated, his gaze resting on the floor in front of him before he finally made up his mind. "What is it you're offering to do?"

A wicked smile drew it's way across the assassin's features as he stepped further into the room and away from the door. He had gotten what he wanted. "I'll take care of both of them. I'll take care of your scapegoat and bring proof of his death back here so that you can 'reward' me and the people can rest easy knowing that this criminal has been taken care of. As for the lady, I'll take care of her free of charge."

The priest looked to him. It was then that he took note of a burn mark, one that went up the side of the assassin's face and part of his neck. It wasn't very big, but he knew what it was from. "You hate Catriona don't you. She fought back."

The assassin ignored his comment. "Do we have a deal?" he demanded. His change in tone said it all. Catriona had been the one to give him that injury and he wasn't happy about it. To add insult to injury… she had escaped, still alive.

"Yes… Yes we do. But only if you make it to them both before my soldiers do." The priest replied. "I hope you will, that sentry with her probably knows too much by now."

The assassin turned to leave. "Oh trust me. I can find them. No reason to worry."


	6. Arrowhead Manor

**6**

**Arrowhead Manor**

It didn't take us too long to make it to Arrowhead Manor, thankfully. By the time we made it I was ready to just collapse. Hunger pangs plagued my stomach, making it growl loudly from time to time.

The place was more like a small town, though it didn't seem very well kept, or well guarded. Perhaps they had been running low on funds? Or perhaps they were still repairing. It didn't look so bad as we made our way even further inside the white, stone walls.

Just a little longer and then I could sleep. I hoped. I was surely dragging my feet by now though I wasn't paying much attention to it. Too tired.

My eyes went wide as I suddenly found myself falling forward. Great! More scrapes! As if my hands and knees needed anymore punishment! I set my jaw and clenched my eyes shut to brace myself for impact with the ground, but it never happened. Aiden had caught me before I went too far.

My face immediately flushed red. I must have looked like an idiot trying to catch myself, arms flailing, all but running past him as he walked in front of me.

"Are you alright?" He questioned, helping me to right myself.

I was about to say that I was perfectly fine, but winced as soon as my foot touched the ground. A sharp pain shot through my leg from my ankle, "Ow.." I grumbled. Was I really that bad off that I would roll my ankle by tripping over my own two feet?

He frowned at me. "You should really be more careful."

Surely he was remembering my other folly last night, when I had fallen right on my rear end, and nearly gotten him and his friend killed by that monstrous scorpion. I let out a heavy sigh, "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry…"

"Damn little monsters!" a voice shouted. It caused myself and Aiden both to jump, startled. I almost fell over again but managed to latch onto his arm before my balance escaped me completely.

An older man stormed out of the middle section of the manor, face flushed red with anger. Was that the host of the manor? The one that we had to ask permission to stay here for the night?

Great.

It seemed that Aiden was having the same thought. "Heh… well, uh, if we don't get permission to stay here then we'll just have to get a map and set up camp outside somewhere." he said to me quietly.

Just then an elderly woman came out of the house as well. She looked mildly irritated, her eyebrows scrunched together in a rather mean looking scowl. "And just what are you going to do about it? You're too _old _to go around fighting monsters for some treasure map!"

"I was so close! I almost figured it out!" the elderly man insisted.

"You've been obsessed with that damn map for years! Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that the Pyrogolths stole it!" the woman retorted.

That's when I decided it. Humans were scary. By the way they were bickering back and forth I could only guess that they were married.

The old man didn't seem to hear his wife's last comment, instead his gaze had zeroed in on us. He squinted to see better before he began to approach. "Who the hell're you?" he demanded.

Aiden stood his ground rather well, but me? I didn't even think about it. I was behind my appointed guard in an instant, peering around his shoulder. He even seemed a bit intimidated though. He was sweating it I could tell by the way he had gotten all tense.

"We're uh… Travelers, sir." he stammered.

"Travelers! Oh so you're not related to that strange elf… Apsaras I think her name was. I thought that woman's relatives were coming back to haunt me. Damn Wing Elf got me stuck on that crazy floating temple with no way to get down…"

What in the world was this man rambling on about? I looked up toward the sky out of curiosity. Okay, so maybe this guy wasn't totally out of his mind. I stared in fascination. He was right, there was something floating in the sky. I had heard stories, but seeing it was … wow…

Aiden seemed less tense in front of me now that the old man wasn't yelling at him, but that was short lived.

"Well what do you want here?" the old man all but snapped.

That got both of our attentions yet again. "I- We need a place to stay, and we would appreciate it very much, sir, if you could… um…" Aiden began but the man didn't let him finish his thought.  
"No! Out of the question! You can't stay here, I know how you youngsters are!" the old man exclaimed suddenly, He jabbed a finger in Aiden's face, causing him to take a step backward to avoid being hit in the nose. "You'll go all crazy, destroy one of the rooms. Damn kids."

What on earth made him think that?

"But sir, honestly we're both just tired and looking for a place to stay one night."

A sinking feeling settled in my gut and even Aiden looked flustered. No sleep? Not now?

The old man began to say something else but his wife, or what I had assumed to be his wife had made her way out to him. "Roarke! That's enough out of you, that boy's been nothing but respectful to you this whole time." she said sternly, arms crossed.

"But honey-"

She sent him a glare and he let out a sigh. "I'm going back inside." he grumbled. He sent a glance to Aiden "I'm watching you kids. One loose board an' I'll-"

"Roarke! Why don't you check on the tea? It could be boiling over by now." his wife interjected tersely.

He grumbled a few more things as he stormed away.

"You'll have to excuse him. He's been like this ever since he found that damn treasure map of his missing."

"It's fine ma'am… really." Aiden said, the expression on his face said it all, he was happy to be rid of the old man.

I peered out from behind him a little further this time. It was safe?

The woman's eyes went wide upon noticing me. "Oh my word child! What's happened to you?"

I looked at her, confused. It didn't register to me yet that I must have looked horrible. Although I had been healed… it didn't fix my clothing, which thankfully had been red anyways… all the dry blood… it just looked like mud stains now, which matched the dirt that I was sure was smudged all over me.

She all but shoved Aiden out of the way to get a better look at me. "And that old badger was just going to turn you away." She frowned and her eyes rested on my neck for a moment. It made me self conscious.

I hadn't seen my own reflection in quite a while. What was there? I put my hand up to it again, almost involuntarily. What did it look like? The skin there felt… different still, so I wasn't imagining it before.

"What's wrong with your leg? You're favoring it." she demanded.

"I-I rolled my ankle…" I said quietly, slightly embarrassed at admitting how clumsy I was. How could she tell that? Was it just by how I stood?

"You, boy, what's your name?"

"Uh… Aiden, Ma'am"

"Alright, Aiden, pick her up and follow me inside. I'll help you both get situated."

Huh? Pick me up?

It was an awkward feeling when he didn't hesitate to do so. He scooped me up with ease. "Sorry, but this is the quickest way to get you inside." he said sincerely. He gave me a small smile to try and be reassuring. "I told you not to worry too much. Things work out."

"I think that was just a lucky break." I said back to him.

The woman paused at the door to look back at us. "So… about rooms."

"Yes?" Aiden prompted. It seemed as though he was going to do most of the talking. That was fine by me, he was better at dealing with these things than me. I hadn't even spoken to anyone outside of my own race before.

"You two aren't _together _are you?"

I once again felt my cheeks grow hot with a blush. Aiden seemed equally as red. We both looked in opposite directions of each other. "N-no ma'am we're not…"

"We're not together in that sense." I said, or squeaked as the case may be.

The elderly woman laughed at us both. "I understand. Separate rooms it is then, but I'll make sure they're right next to each other."

"Thank you ma'am." Aiden replied, speaking for both of us it seemed. I was certainly lost for words.

I was still so thoroughly embarrassed that I momentarily forgot how tired I was, but my stomach would not let me forget my hunger. It growled loudly and I let out a groan. I just wanted sleep was that too much to ask for?

"Looks like Roarke and I will be sharing our dinner tonight." the woman said pleasantly.

As long as they didn't mind. This was almost too good to be true. Food, rest, and at least one nice person.

Maybe humans weren't so scary after all.


	7. Trials

**7**

**Trials**

A gloomy darkness settled over the City of Plume. Rumors filled the air that something bad had happened, something absolutely horrible. It was nearing nightfall when the priest called for an audience with everyone in town. He had some kind of news but there was a feeling of dread.

Everyone was told to gather in the center of the city, around the pool that rested under the tree the city was built around. Miraculously, it had escaped being destroyed during the monster's rampage the night before, but only barely.

Torrance made his way to the center of town along with everyone else, curious to hear what it was that had happened. Even he seemed to get a bad feeling in his gut. As if this day could be any worse! He had seen so many distraught people. The casualties from the attack the night before were laid to rest during the day; in all it had already been a day of mourning.

He nimbly clambered over the rubble left near the back end of the pool. As usual, he was late for any kind of function, everyone already crowded closer to the pool and there didn't seem to be much room left for him. Even approaching from the back didn't seem to work.

Running a hand through his short blonde hair, he decided that the only other chance he had to get close enough was to fly. That could be tiring depending on how long the priest spoke for. Knowing the priest… that could be a while.

He summoned his wings and took to the air, quickly finding a crevice in the roots of the large tree to perch in. So perhaps it wasn't all a loss, the view was good. He folded his wings behind him and settled in for what he was sure to be a long speech.

"Torrance!" he heard a voice call out to him.

A female voice.

His brown eyes lit up when he saw a young woman flying up to meet him on pure white wings. "Well, hello there Faye… looking beautiful… but what else is new?" he said, giving her a wink. He smiled in amusement as her face immediately flushed red.

"Not today! It's no time to joke!" she scolded him, trying to look angry though her cute little face couldn't possibly look intimidating. He could tell she wasn't angry, but she wasn't happy either… that much was for sure. Something was wrong. She looked upset, her pretty brow creased with worry.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not! We can't find my brother, Aiden…" she replied. "Have you seen him?"

He frowned. That had been bothering him also. "I haven't seen him since we were on guard duty last night." He almost immediately regretted answering as he had.

Faye's deep blue eyes began to tear up.

"No, no, no! Wait! Don't cry!"

It didn't seem that she would be listening as the sniffling began. "Wh- what if he died and they haven't found him yet!"

He hated to see girls cry! "I'm sure he's fine!"

"How do you know that?"

He struggled to think fast. What could he say? He wasn't even quite sure himself what had happened. The last he had seen of Aiden he was carrying Lady Catriona to safety. After that, Torrance had been too busy trying to keep himself alive to know where his friend had gone.

With every passing second, Faye looked more and more as though she would burst out crying. In a panic, Torrance said the first thing that came to mind. "The kid's like a roach, he's not gonna die that easy!"

That hadn't come out right.

Faye scowled at him. "A roach?"

"Okay… so maybe it wasn't the best analogy."

"No, it wasn't."

"But the point is, I'm sure that he's fine wherever he went…"

The large crowd of people that had gathered began to hush, something that Torrance noticed rather quickly. It seemed that the priest was finally ready to speak. He tried to make as much room as possible in his little crevice so that Faye could sit with him. "Come on, he's ready to talk."

Faye dried up her eyes the best she could as she settled in next to him. "Where's the elder?"

"I'm not sure, but I think he's talking now, shush."

She shot him a look but stayed silent.

"City of Plume… My family." The priest began. His voice carried well through the center of town, reverberating off the large wooden walls of the inner city. "I am very proud of our archers and our clerics, those that have worked very hard in this time of trial that Pan Gu has set before us. I thank you for your hard work and dedication."

There was a small bit of applause and cheers of agreement from the crowd, which soon fell quiet. After the short pause he again began to speak. "But it seems that our trial is not over yet."

Torrance once again found himself plagued by an uneasy feeling in his gut. The look on the priest's face said it all. Something was horribly wrong.

"I am… very sorry to inform all of you…" the priest began ever so hesitantly. He looked to the ground a moment taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. It seemed that he was trying to compose himself. "…But our beloved elder has died … and her granddaughter is missing."

Shock overtook the crowd in a massive wave and questions erupted from every corner of the large mass of people. Torrance nearly fell backwards off of his section of tree root. "What!" he exclaimed, speaking the same thought that everyone seemed to have at the moment.

"I assure you that every measure is being taken to find Lady Catriona and the elder's killer!" the priest shouted, loud enough to be heard over the shocked population. "I must ask for your help in this as well! Our sources tell me that the one responsible for this is one of our own. One by the name of Aiden Locke."

Torrance's eyes went wide. Not many things had ever come as a shock to him. He'd been through a lot, seen a lot of things, but this…

This had to have been the biggest surprise of his life.

"What! No! He's wrong!" Faye shouted, though not quite loud enough to be heard over a noisy crowd. "Aiden would never do such a thing!"

Torrance caught her by the arm before she could take flight. Aiden was his good friend, he'd known him for a while; long enough to know his friend's little sister. She was about to make a scene, he knew it.

"Let go!" She shouted, pulling hard against his grip. "I won't allow this! Aiden is not a murd-" Her sentence ended rather abruptly as Torrance pulled her to him. He put a hand over her mouth to silence her. She looked shocked to say the least.

"Please, be quiet and calm down." he said quickly, releasing her only when she nodded in compliance. "I don't have a good feeling about this… But whatever's going on, making a scene isn't going to help."

"Why would they blame my brother? He's never hurt anyone!" Faye exclaimed, though more quietly this time.

Torrance didn't reply. He and Aiden both had saved Lady Catriona's life the other night. None of it made any sense; why would the priest make such an accusation? He knew that not many would question the priest though… whatever order he had given would be carried out.

He searched the crowd a moment, finding Aiden's father pretty quickly. The man was trying to shove his way through the crowd despite relying on crutches to move.

"Faye, get back to your family." Torrance said after a moment of thought. "Tell them I'm going to find Aiden. I know something isn't right, we all do."

"I want to come with you."

"Faye-"

"He's my brother! And I've trained! I have a good aim with a crossbow."

"That's not the point. Just stay with your parents and let them know I'm leaving as soon as possible to find Aiden. I'm going to go get supplies now okay?"

Faye hesitantly nodded before taking off and gliding down towards her parents.

This was going to be a long ordeal…


	8. Visions

**8**

**Visions**

"No! Stay away from me!" I screamed. I was running through the forest as fast as my legs would carry me. There was no time to take flight, any delay would result in the assassin catching me! My heart pounded in my chest, driven into a wild frenzy from terror.

Where was Aiden? He was supposed to take me to Archosaur! I thought he was to protect me until I got there, why was he not here?

I glanced over a shoulder, going wide-eyed upon seeing the assassin taking aim at me. I was too exhausted to cast spells. Every muscle in my body ached, the only thing that even kept me moving was my own panic.

The arrow cut through the air as it was released from the crossbow, coming straight for me.

"Ahhh!" I screamed, as something touched my shoulder.

It took a moment to register that what touched me, was not in fact an arrow sinking into my skin, but the hand of the old woman who had welcomed us into her home. I had just been dreaming...

Thank the heavens.

"Calm down, dear, you're fine." She said quickly. She looked at me with concern in her crystal blue eyes.

It took all the concentration I could muster to slow my heart from it's rapid pace. Every nerve in my body once again was frayed and it took a few moments of looking around the room to convince myself that I had merely been dreaming. My horrifying experiences had left a mark on me… That assassin would lurk in my nightmares for a long time to come I was sure of it.

I tried to take my mind off of the dream by concentrating on other things. The bed beneath me was rather comfortable, the whole room had a comfy feeling to it. The sounds of the birds could be heard from outside and the room was illuminated, not by candles but by sunlight that filtered in through the drapes on the windows. That certainly helped to calm me down, but I had a question…

"When did I fall asleep?" I asked. My eyebrows furrowed in thought as I tried to recall. I never remembered having fallen asleep at all.

The old woman smiled at me. "You fell asleep before you even made it half-way down the hallway." She said with a soft laugh. "You couldn't even stay awake long enough to eat."

"Oh.."

I fought back a blush but felt it burning my cheeks. Despite my efforts to hide it, it was very visible, much to my dismay. That meant that I had fallen asleep in Aiden's arms… how awkward he must have felt.

"I thought I would wake you up to eat though. You need your strength."

"How long did I sleep for?"

"It's mid-afternoon, you've been sleeping solid since last night." She said. She got up from where she had been sitting at the edge of the bed and walked to a dresser that sat near the entrance to the room. There she picked up a tray and brought it to me.

My stomach growled at the mere _sight _of food. I felt like I hadn't eaten in ages! And the smell, it was so good. It seemed to be only some kind of stew and some bread and water but I would take nearly anything now.

"Y-you didn't have to bring it to me, I could hav-"

"Don't you worry about it. You've been through a lot, I can tell."

It took all of my self control not to tear into it once she had sat it down on my lap. _Don't make a mess, be polite_. I told myself. I took the small spoon and scooped up some of the stew, cautiously taking a small sampling bite. The food was amazing! Much better than I had expected. Not that I was sure at all what to expect in the first place.

"Do you like it?" she said, though the way she smiled at me told me she already knew the answer. I was eating it as fast as I possibly could without sloshing the meal all over.

"I-it's delicious!" I exclaimed. "What is it?"

"It's a chicken and vegetable stew my mother taught me to make a long time ago. I don't cook often, it's one of the few things I know how to make. "

"It's wonderful! Thank you!" I said after gulping down another bite.

"It's not a problem. You were lucky you came by when you did and that I made Roarke save some.

I managed to slow my eating down some near the end of the bowl. "I'm so sorry…" I said as a thought crossed my mind. "We never even got a real introduction and here I am eating your food…"

"It's quite alright. You didn't have time. My name is Edna by the way, and yours?"

"Catriona." I replied slowly, taken aback by how close her name was to my grandmother's…

As starved as I was, it looked as though one bowl of Edna's stew would be enough for me. My stomach could never handle very much at once. My hunger was finally satisfied but exhausted still.

My eyelids felt heavy and all I wanted to do was sleep once again. I barely realized it when she took the tray from my lap and moved the blankets off my of my legs. "Let's check that ankle of yours."

Oh, that, I remembered that. This was an odd reversed situation I thought to myself. A human giving medical attention to a cleric. A frown came to my face at the thought. Not a very good cleric anyways. I didn't know that I had ever tried to treat anything aside from a badly skinned knee or something of the sort from the small children around Plume.

"Hm, so it is true, you wing elves heal rather fast. It's not even swollen anymore." Edna stated.

I barely heard her and only muttered a tired, "yeah" in reply. My eyes were closed, ready to just let sleep take me again. But then it happened, just like before.

That dreadful noise began to fill my ears, growing louder by the second. The screaming and the sounds of fire crackling.

"Miss Catriona? What's wrong?" I heard the woman say to me but, barely. Reality was quickly vanishing.

I sat hunched over, my hands over my ears as if out of instinct. It did no good , the noise wouldn't stop. And the vision wouldn't leave me no matter what I did! All around me my beautiful home city burned!

I could see it more clearly this time, there were people. They ran past me as I seemed to stand in the middle of the carnage unnoticed. Some were fighting as others fled, but all that could be seen of them were shadows.

"You did this!" A voice scolded me. That voice, I knew it, it was the priest! Every muscle in my body wanted to run as he appeared up ahead. I stumbled backwards when he began to storm toward me, eyes burning with a hatred I couldn't begin to understand.

"No! Stop it!" I cried.

"You allowed this monster to escape! I'll have you killed for this just like that grandmother of yours… she deserved to die."

My grandmother? Dead? What was he talking about? I didn't understand! I turned to run but instead found myself face to face with that man… the one that killed me. "Don't worry," he said in that half whisper tone. "It'll be for good this time."

I all but screamed when he gripped my arm. Finally, as soon as my heart felt like it could take no more terror, reality returned. Once again I was sitting in the room at the manor, curled up on myself with tears rolling down my cheeks. I tried to hold them back now, no more crying please... I had done so enough already.

What was happening to me?

"Miss Catriona, are you okay?" Edna questioned. She sounded panicked.

I looked to her and then took notice of quite a few people standing in the doorway behind her. "U-uh yeah… I-I'm fine." I stammered.

She seemed to follow my gaze and waved the others away with a scowl. They promptly vanished, the last one to leave quickly but quietly closed the door. She turned her attention back to me, the wrinkles on her forehead even more pronounced now with the worry she expressed. "Are you sure that you're okay? What happened?" she asked.

"I-I don't know."

Paranoia gripped me now. The last time something like this happened, a vision of some sort, a monster had attacked my home town and nearly killed me. What this time? My stomach churned and a sick feeling washed over me. I didn't know why but I had to get out of here and moving again.

"Where's Aiden?" I questioned.

Edna let out an exasperated sigh. Her lips tugged into an unenthused frown as she answered. "Your friend asked what he could do in return for letting you both stay here and Roarke told me he had sent him on an errand but he probably sent him to find that damn treasure map."

"We can't stay here anymore, I need to find him." I said quickly, throwing the covers the rest of the way off and going to get to my feet. A hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Catriona, dear… if you keep going like this you're going to make yourself sick." Edna said.

She was probably right, but what other choice did I have? Something told me that neither myself nor Aiden were going to be safe until we reached the large walled city of Archosaur. This anxious feeling weighed on my chest like a sack of bricks.

"I- It was just a dream… but I-I would feel better if we could get-"

"Just what are you running from?"

I fell silent and averted my gaze to the bed in front of me. That question had been so sudden. How much information could be told? My grandmother had specifically told me not to let anyone know of my power, even though I knew so little about it myself, but how much else could I divulge?

"I get the feeling that you're running, or hiding from something."

"Edna!" I could hear her husband call suddenly.

Perhaps I wouldn't have to tell anything at all! Such a wonderful distraction. I still had to find Aiden and get out of here.

Footsteps were clearly audible as the elderly man came storming up the hallway and Edna went to open the door for him. He hadn't sounded happy and already she didn't look too enthused either. "What is it, Roarke?" she questioned him.

"There are Wing Elves all around our manor!"

"What?"

"They say they're soldiers from the Wing Elf capital but I don't care, I want them off my property!"

The color drained from my face. My grandmother had said she'd send a letter not a search party. Something was wrong. As much as I wanted to believe it… the situation back at home couldn't have been fixed that quickly…


	9. The Search

**9**

**The Search**

Outside the manor walls the forest was rather peaceful. Nothing but the sounds of birds filled the air and the occasional rustling of leaves in the wind. The mid-afternoon light filtered in through the trees in golden rays all around. Such a beautiful location for a manor, it would be a wonderful place once it was fully repaired.

But the beauty of the nature around him was the last thing on Aiden's mind as he wandered through the brush.

How could he have been so careless? He had been grateful to the manor host and his wife for allowing himself and Lady Catriona to stay there. So grateful, in fact, that he had offered to do a favor for either of them in return. Which put him where he was now…

Since he had failed to be more specific in his offer, he had now been given a quest. A quest he had grown to hate already. He had been sent to find that treasure map.

How in the world would he ever finish such a task? It was a piece of paper! Where could he even begin looking for it? He had already been searching for hours and still no sign of any sort of map anywhere. He let out an exasperated sigh and ventured toward the riverside. It seemed that a break was in order for now.

These Pyrogolths the old man spoke of, they still had yet be seen anywhere. Aiden knew of some variety of Pyrogolth, but he himself had never had to directly deal with them. He knew what they looked like, but he had seen nothing all day that even resembled them. Only a few animals and an occasional glance of these white antelope creatures.

What would a little monster want with a treasure map anyway?

Aiden sat down at the base of a tree to rest once the river was finally in view. Would the manor host really be that upset if he returned without it? From the way his wife had been speaking of it earlier it looked like at least one person back in town would be happy if it were never seen again.

But a promise was a promise, and he had promised to do his best.

Of course… searching for hours could count as doing his best.

That was it, he had decided. He began to get up and head back to the manor, already trying to think of what it was he would say when something caught his eye. Not too far from where he had been sitting, something fluttered in the breeze. Something that looked an awful lot like…

No way.

Stuck in a bush a short distance from where Aiden stood now, was in fact, the map. He could make it out better as he approached it. The old tattered piece of parchment did have what looked like landmarks and the names of places written on it. He pulled it from its resting place and examined it a little more closely, his brow furrowed in thought.

It had odd writing on it, that was for sure. It seemed to be in another language even, but it was most definitely a map. It already seemed as though it had had a rough life. Actually, it looked like it had already been patched up once before, if not twice.

A sudden chatter caught his attention, pulling it away from the curious thing he held in his hands. What in the… A Pyrogolth? And just when he had been beginning to doubt their existence in this area. It peered at him from behind the brush, its tiny, goblin-like face crinkled in a scowl. It made a sudden lunge for the map but Aiden quickly pulled it back.

"Hey, sorry buddy, but this isn't yours." he said, not that it mattered. It was doubtful it would understand him anyway.

It chattered angrily, waving a skinny arm in the air. The short staff it held came alight at the end with a flame. It wasn't happy in the least. It turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Aiden stared after it a moment as it disappeared into the brush. "What a weird little monster…" he murmured to himself.

Figuring he had seen the last of it, he began back toward the manor. A sudden bright flash startled him as he walked; a flame right at his hand, the one that held the map. He dropped it, instinctively jerking his hand back. That was hot!

"What the…"

He looked back to see the Pyrogolth glaring at him from a distance.

He sent a scowl back and picked the map back up from where he had dropped it. When he began forward again he found his way blocked by yet another one of those creatures.

Alright, so perhaps a detour was in order. He moved to walk around it but once again, his path on the ground was blocked. What in the world had gotten into these creatures? There was no time for this! He was tired and all he wanted was to get this map back to the host so his debt to them would be repaid.

He summoned his wings to fly over the angry and chattering monsters instead of continuing to try walking around them, but it soon became very clear that they had other plans. Plans that didn't involve him leaving with that map.

Before he had much time to register what was happening, he found himself shouting and making a mad dash for the river. Flames everywhere! It burned! Those little monsters had come out of the woodwork faster than he had time to think! Their chattering filled the forest around him… No one had ever told him these things could light things on fire from a such a distance.

He dove into the cool water of the river staying submerged for a few moments before coming back to the surface. When he looked back to shore he noticed quite a few standing at the edge, glaring at him.

What a fine mess. Now his wings would surely be wet and unable to take flight. And singed to top it all off. These creatures were so bothersome! He hated them already and had only dealt with them a total of a few minutes. He had to come up with some kind of plan now rather than just staying in the middle of the river.

One of the little goblins let out a screech as something hit it. It looked around for the source just as another seemed to get hit by the same thing. They quickly began to scatter, running in all directions back into the shade of the trees.

What was it scaring them off?

Were those… arrows?

Once again the forest was quiet, all but the sound of laughing. A laughter that sounded very familiar. "I would have helped you sooner… but that was… that was just too hilarious!" the voice exclaimed through bouts of laughter.

"Torrance?" Aiden questioned from the middle of the river. He didn't know whether to be relieved or to dread it. The big, blond goof would never let him live this down, that he knew for certain. This was just great.

Torrance came out his hiding place in a tree and landed on the river bank just as Aiden was making his way back there. "What would you ever do without me?" He prompted with a smile as he helped his friend out of the water and back onto dry land.

"I would probably never die of embarrassment." he replied.

"Who are you kidding?"

"You never let it go…"

Torrance laughed at him. "I do have a big mouth, don't I?"

"Yeah, you do." he grumbled as he tried to squeeze the excess water from his clothing. At least he hadn't been wearing his armor. That would have been a pain.

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed. I _didn't _just see you run screaming from a group of monsters half your size."

Aiden frowned. Not about the comment but about the situation, something didn't seem right. What was Torrance doing all the way out here? And why did he look so ragged? He had dark circles under his eyes. Not only did he look tired but he acted it too.

Torrance took a seat against a tree, flopping rather than just sitting. He didn't even bother to hide his wings again. Instead they just rested on the ground, not even folded. He let out a heavy sigh. "Man… I've been flying all night."

"What for?"

Torrance's usual lighthearted air seemed to fade. If that didn't put Aiden on edge, nothing would. If Torrance were ever serious, something big was going on. Given the circumstances, he wasn't sure that he liked where it was headed.

"I don't know what it was you ever did to get karma like this, but you need to get out of here, fast."

* * *

The cellar was dark and dank, and hidden directly under the kitchen. The door was concealed with a rug and this now served as my hiding place. Not much could be seen through the floorboards, but there was much to be heard. It had never occurred to me that I could ever be so afraid of my own kind, but something felt off, something that made me nervous.

Edna had to have seen the fear in me, she had come to the conclusion that I needed to stay out of sight until we knew for certain what was going on here. Who was I to disagree? After knowing that the priest of all people had betrayed me, there was no telling when my trust would be restored for anyone in the capital.

"I don't understand why you think that we would keep anyone dangerous." I could hear Edna say, accompanied with the creaking of the floorboards as someone walked across them. "but if it makes you feel any better, you may search our house. I assure you that you'll not find who you're looking for here."

Someone dangerous?

"Well we mustn't leave any stones unturned when it comes to our elder's murder. I hope that you understand and I'm sorry to have invaded your home." I heard a female voice say, one I recognized to be Guard Ling, one of the more skilled archers around Plume.

I stifled a gasp. The elder's murder? My grandmother was…

_No. No, it couldn't be true! _ I put a hand over my own mouth to keep from being heard as the tears began. _You don't even know if it's true yet! Please, just stop it! _I scolded myself. But why would Ling lie? Then what came to me in that odd vision from before crossed my mind… how the priest spoke of killing my grandmother.

No, it had to be wrong!

I set my jaw as my internal struggle for control continued. I wanted to cry… no, bawl. Scream even. Somewhere in my heart I knew it was true…

I forced myself to look up through the cracks in the floor. It seemed that Ling had sent the others to search the rest of the rooms. She brushed a few strands of her long blue-tinged hair out of her face and let out a sigh. It was hard to make out the expression on her face from my vantage point, but she seemed weary.

Edna seemed to notice the same thing. "You look very tired. Would you like anything? A cup of tea?"

Ling waved her off. "No, no thank you. I appreciate the offer…"

"I'm sorry to hear about your elder, it must be hard news to take."

"It was. The priest sent search parties toward all the nearby towns as soon as he found out what happened. There will be no rest until this killer is found."

Edna paused in the kitchen, right over where the cellar door was hidden. I suppose it would be quite rude to ask someone to move aside in their own house. It seemed that Edna had decided for sure that hiding me was best.

"There's no one else here, I don't see a signs of them anywhere." another voice said from the doorway.

"You searched each room thoroughly, yes?" Ling prompted.

"We did."

"Then it's time we moved on, the sooner we find Aiden and return Lady Catriona home, the better."

Aiden? Was he accused of the murder? I had only known him for a short while but it was doubful that he was even capable of such a thing. He had been with me when we both left my grandmother… then again, there was no one else around to see that.

I wanted to come out and tell them the priest was a liar, but who would listen to me? I would be taken back to Plume and then what? If that vision was anything to go by, the priest still wanted me dead. He had already succeeded in that once. No one would ever suspect _him _of such a thing.

A nauseous feeling rushed over me just thinking about it.

Ling and her search party finally left and all was quiet until Edna returned to let me out of my hiding place. I didn't say a word as I climbed out with her help. My thoughts reeled, everything was out of control now, even more so than before.

"Are you alright?" Edna questioned.

I just nodded, an obvious lie. I sat in silence as the same question plagued me over and over again. What do we do now?

"I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother… Ling told me that you were the elder's granddaughter and then when she mentioned…"

"It's okay. They didn't say that they'd found Aiden yet did they?" I asked, anything to take my mind off of my grandmother's death. If it meant worrying for someone else's survival, so be it.

"No, they didn't."

I sighed heavily. Although dazed and confused I couldn't cry, not anymore. Tears wouldn't fix anything. "I need to find him… but then what do we do?"


	10. Found

**10**

**Found**

Aiden sat, frozen in shock. Him? Murder? He hadn't had a good feeling about this journey in the first place but now things were just completely out of hand. This couldn't be right! He had never been hunted down before, for anything! Why him?

"Hey…. Aiden, you still in there?" Torrance questioned him, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Y-yeah…" he stammered. He shook his head as if doing so would put his thoughts back in order. Of course something so simple didn't help. "You've got to be joking… right?"

"Aiden."

"Yes?"

"You know me. I'm way too lazy to fly this far for a joke." Torrance replied bluntly.

Aiden let out a frustrated grumble. Of course he was right, that goof would have never flown this far this fast just for a prank. He had probably just picked a random town close to Plume and flew to it too. He didn't really want to know either way, he already felt slightly nauseous from shock.

He got to his feet, wound far too tight now to take sitting down. What could he do now? They couldn't just continue on their way could they?

"The priest also said that Lady Catriona was missing."

"She's fine, she's with me… er, not at the moment, but… ugh! You get the idea!" He rambled. He had to stop this stuttering!

Torrance took a long drink from a canteen he carried with him. At least it looked like someone had a chance to prepare for the flight out here. He paused long enough to ask another question. "We know they want _you _dead, but what happens if they take Catriona back? And stop pacing would you? You're making _me _dizzy just watching you."

Aiden barely even heard the last remark though he did pause. He couldn't just let them take Lady Catriona back home could he? He nearly flinched when a memory came back to haunt him. The image of her body slumped lifelessly against a tree in the forest was still fresh in his mind. At the time the sight had nearly made him sick.

"No… they can't find her either, the priest will kill her… already has once…" he murmured.

Torrance suddenly broke in to a fit of coughing. It looked as though this had come as a surprise to him seeing as how he'd spit out the water he'd had in his mouth as well. "What? But why?" he exclaimed. "She died?"

"I helped the Elder find her, and when we did she was…"

"Wait, you were with the Elder? How?"

"I-I don't know! I guess I just happened to be the closest person to ask for help! I was just standing on guard duty and she came running up to me in a panic asking me if I could help her find her granddaughter. What was I supposed to do? Say no?" Aiden snapped before he even realized it. He hadn't meant to sound so angry. He was most definitely losing his cool which he tried to regain by taking a deep breath. He looked to the sky, "Why me?" he grumbled.

"Hey, calm down, you were saying?"

"When we found Lady Catriona she was … dead. I don't know who exactly killed her but the Elder used a resurrection spell on her and ordered me to take her to Archosaur." Aiden finished quickly, a very condensed version of the story.

Torrance went wide-eyed "Woah… you actually saw a resurrection spell?"

"That's beside the point! What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"Well… sounds like Arch is still your best bet. It's not Wing Elf territory and you might be able to blend in there. It's a big place"

Aiden nodded slowly. "Yeah… yeah you're right. What about my family?" That had been at the forefront of his mind. He knew they couldn't have taken this very well, and what lengths would the priest go to now to find him?

"They're fine. A little shocked and upset, but if it makes you feel any better, they don't think that you're a murderer." Torrance replied sincerely.

Aiden let out a sigh. "This is so … messed up…" He should hope his family wouldn't believe that of him no matter who it was that told them. At least he knew they were safe…

He opened his mouth to say something else but a sudden noise caught his attention. It sounded like a voice. He couldn't make it out but it was a shout, that much he could tell for sure. What if they had found him already?

"Well that didn't sound good…" Torrance said.

"Quick, hide!" Aiden exclaimed quietly, shooing Torrance off into the forest.

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me, just get out of here. If they see you they'll want you dead too!

"Ling! I think there's something over here!" A voice shouted, a lot closer now.

Torrance stared off in that direction in disbelief. "Holy shit those guys fly fast! Have I gained weight or something?" he grumbled.

Aiden had to use every bit of self control he had just to keep from yelling. Torrance, that damn jester! Could he ever really get serious about anything? "Torrance! Go!"

It didn't take any more convincing for his friend to vanish. Aiden knew he didn't want to leave him alone but at the moment he didn't have any other choice.

Aiden did his best to stay silent as he tried to make his way back to the manor. He had to get Lady Catriona and get out of there as quickly as possible! His heart began to race when he realized just how close the search party was. Slight rustling in the brush hinted at someone up ahead, they stepped lightly but his hearing picked it up well enough.

He hid behind the nearest tree just as one of the search party appeared through the brush. Everything sounded too loud, even his own breathing as he tried to remain still and as quiet as the grave.

The archer bent down and picked up an arrow from the ground. Probably from one of the Pyrogolths that Torrance had opened fire on earlier. She studied it. "Hmm, a regular arrow… it fits…" she mused aloud.

Aiden nearly screamed when a loud thud violently caught his attention. An arrow had embedded itself into the tree right next to his head! He could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat. That arrow could only mean one thing.

So this was it already… he had been found…

"Turn around but stay where you are!" a voice ordered him. One he recognized.

He swallowed back a lump of fear and turned slowly, coming face to face with Guard Ling. This was serious… Not often had she been sent out like this, one of the better archers around from what he had heard.

"Well you're a bold one aren't you? Not even wearing armor." She spat.

What could he do? He was trapped! The other archer that had been close by was already coming to Ling's aid and if he so much as twitched the wrong way he was sure that the arrow she had aimed at him wouldn't miss. To top it all off, she looked very angry.

"Where's the Lady?" She demanded, her bow aimed at him at point blank range now.

Aiden looked shocked, speechless.

"Speak or I may decide not to take you back to Plume alive for your trial!"

That was when he saw it; a quick flash of hawk-like feathers in the trees above. Torrance? Or was it someone else ready to swarm him and take him back to plume? He tore his attention away from trees and back to the situation in front of him… one that wasn't looking very good.

"I-I really don't… I… you don't understand…" He stammered.

"I will only ask you one more time." Ling stated in a warning tone. "Where is Lady Catriona?"

Just then, someone dropped from the trees above nearly on top of both archers facing Aiden. Ling never saw what it was that hit her before she fell unconscious to the ground.

There was no time to think! Before the other archer could turn to see what happened, Aiden rushed her.

She regained herself from the shock enough to take aim at him but her shot was sloppy. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he dodged to the side and nearly not fast enough. The arrow left a small line of red on his neck as it streaked past.

The Wing Elf went wide eyed and her fingers scrambled to pull another arrow from her quiver. Everything happened too fast. She was out cold before she could notch another arrow.

That was far too close…

But the mess he was in had now just been made worse. Once they found the both of them, they would know he was here and from the looks of it…

He felt as though he could be sick. Even this wasn't favorable at all! "Oh no… no, no, no, no this is _not _good…" he murmured as he stared down at the two unconscious Wing Elves.

"You really owe me one, my friend." Torrance stated.

"W-we just … just knocked out… ohhh…."

"You don't look like you're feeling so good."

"If they didn't think I was a murderer before they'll definitely think so now… I attacked…"

"Hey, calm down, at least you're not dead, they're not dead-"

Aiden barely heard him "You have to get out of here. Now! They haven't seen you around yet, and don't repeat anything I told you or they'll try to kill you too! You were never here!"

Torrance frowned. It was obvious he was conflicted. After that close of a call he would normally have never left a comrade behind, but this situation called for it. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Since I really can't help anymore… you look after yourself."

Aiden made a visible effort to calm himself. "I will…" he replied after a moment. "Please take care of my family for me. I don't think they're in any danger but-"

"Hey, what are friends for? _You _just try not to die." Torrance said, attempting to brighten the mood at least a little. "Besides, you owe me a drink when you get back and you can't do that if you're dead."

Aiden let out a small sigh of relief. "Right. Thank you."

* * *

"I'm sure he's fine." Edna said. She was trying her best to convince me, but I had a bad feeling. Ling and her party wouldn't just stop in town and look. They had to be searching more thoroughly than that.

I was once again in the room that I had been staying in before. Edna had gotten rid of my old clothing, which was probably a good thing, and given me new ones. I was pretty sure that by now she had an idea of why my old clothes looked like they had when she tried to wash them and the "mud" just wouldn't come out.

The new clothes, or old clothes rather, that she had given me she said she had worn at one point in time. They were comfortable and the high collar of the shirt covered my neck, which I was grateful for. I had said thank you enough already but my worry for Aiden stayed at the front of my mind. It had been a while now since Ling had left…

Aiden was out there, alone, with no idea of what was going on! He was in danger and I couldn't help but to feel it was my fault.

"What's she fretting over now?" Roarke asked. Call me crazy but for once he looked slightly concerned.

"It's her friend." Edna said. She gave him a scowl before adding. "The one you sent to look for the map I'm sure."

The old man made an genuine effort to look confused. "I don't know what you're talking about. What map?" he replied quickly.

Edna let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head before continuing on with her thought. "Could you please go find him?"

"Now?"

"Yes! Please, this is important!"

"Alright, fine, fine. I'll do it." he said, beginning to storm off. He didn't bother to close the door behind him.

Not but a moment later there was a loud noise from the hallway. It startled me for sure. Edna's attention had certainly been grabbed. It sounded like something had hit the floor!

"What was that?" I questioned.

"I-I'm not sure." Edna replied, getting up and cautiously going to peek around the door into the hallway.

"Edna!" Roarke shouted. Once again he didn't sound happy but when had he ever? "I found him!"

"I am _so _sorry sir! Honestly I didn't mean to-"

"Shut up and just help me!"

"Y-yes sir!"

I knew that voice! It was Aiden, he was back! "Aiden!" I exclaimed, getting up from the bed and running into the hallway where he helped the old man to his feet. At least some of my nerves were calmed now.

Some.

Certainly not all. Especially when I took note of the trail of blood running down the side of his neck to stain the collar of his shirt. I frowned. It could have just been a scratch but my gut told me differently.

It looked like he had come rushing around the corner and hadn't seen the manor host quickly enough to dodge him. Once the old man was standing he took on a pensive expression, trying to remember something. Then it hit him. "Oh, here, if this makes up for anything, I found this." he said quickly. He pulled a piece of parchment out of a small pouch and handed it to Roarke.

The old man looked at it with a wrinkled nose. "What…" he began. When he unfolded it and looked at it his eyes lit up. "It's my map!" he exclaimed. "But… why is it wet?"

"That's…. a uh… long story." Aiden replied turning a shade of red.

"Pyrogolths gave you trouble didn't they?" the old man laughed.

My appointed guard sighed, his eyebrows furrowed. "That wasn't the only thing…"

I frowned. He seemed very uptight, something I hadn't really seen from him before. From what I had gathered about him through our short conversations already not much could make him lose his cool. From the look in his eyes though, it was apparent. His emotions were so plain through his deep blue eyes; something had him very upset.

"What happened to your neck?" I questioned as he made his way past the old man to me.

"Huh?" He put his hand up to it as if he hadn't even noticed it until now. He cringed when he looked at his hand and saw the blood on it. "Oh… It's nothing… but I need to tell you something and I-I'm not sure …" His sentence trailed off as he seemed to search for the right words to say. "Everything's changed. The whole situation at home…"

I looked to the floor in front of me. "I know."

Aiden looked confused. "You know?"

I was rather confused as well, how did he know what was going on now? .

"Soldiers from Plume have already been here." Edna explained.

"They'll be coming back." Aiden said quickly without any further hesitation. "They've seen me, they know I'm around here."

I would have asked if this day could get any worse, but I didn't want that question answered. The second the question arose I knew it would.

"Well let's not waste any time getting you both ready to leave." Edna stated.

"I'm sorry all of this has happened to you." I said quietly once the old woman had hurried off. "I didn't mean for anyone to get dragged into this mess with me."

"It'll be fine, it's not your fault it's my damn luck." he said, in the least reassuring tone I had hear from him thus far. "Everything will get better once we make it to Arch."

He seemed more as though he were trying to convince himself that things would turn out okay.

Edna peeked her head around the corner she had vanished behind earlier "Hurry up kids! We don't have all day! Let's get you both on the trail!"


	11. Intervention

**11**

**Intervention**

"What? No! how did- but- I was finally winning!" A young man stammered, staring down at a game board in front of him. He almost literally scratched his head in thought as he examined the positions of his defeated white chess pieces.

The red headed woman that sat across from him didn't give him much response. She took her feet down from where she'd had them propped up on a chair. "I'll tell you a little secret." she said flatly. "You were never winning, I had you from the start."

"What? But how?"

"It's called the art of deception, you should learn it sometime."

He hastily began to reset the pieces on the board. "Come on, another round, I won't let you beat me again."

"Daemon, isn't that what you said before every one of the last _hundred _times she's beaten you?" a voice prompted from the doorway where another man in arcane robes sat. He lounged against the doorframe of the hut.

"Shut up Aleou! I got it this time!" Daemon shouted, sending the wizard a glare.

"I honestly don't feel like playing another round." the woman said, getting to her feet. She stretched a bit as if she had been sitting for a while.

"Come on Kyna!"

"Some other time." she said a little more forcefully. She had other things at the forefront of her mind. She hated staying still. She hated staying in one town too long even. Never before in her life had she resorted to playing board games so many times in a row to defeat boredom! What a waste of time. Especially when there was no more money to be made here.

"When's Tiergan getting back here anyways? What's it been now, five days?" Aleou questioned.

Kyna massaged her temples to fend off an oncoming headache. "Hell if I know."

"You're his Director, I figured he'd tell you if he didn't tell any of us."

"Well he didn't give me a specific time he just left me in charge until he came back. He's probably heckling a price for our troubles."

Daemon scoffed. "Well we'd better get paid good for this job. My axes need fixing and I don't think there's another stray wraith beast within thirty miles of this place." He didn't look up from the game board as he spoke. It seemed that he had now resorted to playing a game against himself.

Kyna shook her head. Good soldier, determined, just very stubborn…

Playing against his own wits wasn't going to make things any more interesting. But if it kept him occupied….

"Well, I'm going to make a few rounds myself to pass the time." Kyna said, rummaging through her pack in her corner of the hut. "Let Tiergan know that's what I'm doing if he happens to get back before I do." She pulled a pair of gloves from her bag with harsh looking metal plating on them. Her weapon of choice.

She walked past Aleou and out of the door into the bright midday sun as she finished lacing the gloves on.

"Hey Kyna!" the wizard shouted after her.

She paused and looked back. She didn't speak but her raised brow said it all.

Aleou winked at her "Want some… _company_?"

Kyna rolled her eyes but didn't offer a response other than turning back to her way and waving a goodbye over her shoulder.

"Oho! _Rejected!_" she could hear Daemon say rather loudly.

"Oh shut up!"

"Come over here and make me, _Squishy_!"

Their altercation brought a small smile to her face. Even though she was stuck out in this place with practically no work to do, she could think of worse people to be stuck with. At least much less entertaining people anyway.

Within moments the shouts from her comrades faded into the distance and she found who she had been looking for: their team's one and only cleric. The Wing Elf seemed to be enjoying herself as much as the locals. The location was nice, Hidden Orchid Valley had certainly come a long way since the Wraith Wars had ended. The sun was warm, with a slight breeze that toyed with the large leaves of the palm trees. The white, sandy beaches were clear of monsters and filled more with the locals. Some enjoyed the sun, some fished either for fun or to earn their living.

So it seemed the team's work had paid off in some ways already at least. When they had first arrived the place had been overrun by stray wraith creatures, more a nuisance than a really big danger now with the largest of the wraiths already mostly defeated. Their attempts to organize themselves were becoming much less dangerous.

"Lillian!" Kyna said loudly to get the cleric's attention as she approached.

Lillian turned from her conversation with a few townspeople. "Oh, hi Kyna, heading out for a while or something?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving you and Cyrus in charge until I get back. Let him know will you?"

"Sure. You're going alone?" the Wing Elf questioned, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I can handle myself. There's not much out there we haven't taken care of already anyway." she replied nonchalantly. "Need some alone time."

Lillian nodded. "Oh, alright, well be careful and I'll let Cyrus know."

"Thanks, I'll be back before sundown."

* * *

"Aiden!" I shouted, pounding my wings hard to catch up. He flew so much faster than me and even with him half asleep I had a hard time catching up.

He paused a moment to look back. His eyebrows furrowed when he seemed to realize just how far behind he had left me. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine." I said before he could finish his thought. He had me a little worried. Had he not caught a wink of sleep at all? We were now into our third day of travel since we left Edna and Roarke back at Arrowhead Manor and he looked more and more out of sorts every day. As a cleric I could sense other people's feelings slightly. Some more than others but I got enough from him to know things weren't right. I frowned at him and stopped myself to hover close by. "Is it safe to stop?" I questioned.

"You don't need a break already do you?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer but a thought crossed my mind. What I wanted to say was, "No, _you _need it since you look like you haven't slept in ages." He had such dark circles under his eyes that one would have thought he had gotten into a fight. And lost.

I thought better of it though. He would never take a break if it was put that way. "Uh, well, my uh, wing it…" I began, trying to think of a good excuse.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a frown on his face. "Well?"

I faked a cringe. "Wing cramp…"

"I guess you wouldn't be used to this sort of distance…" he said more to himself than me as his eyes scanned the ground below us for a good landing place.

_Way to lie Cat. _I thought to myself. It was for his own good though.

I followed him down to a small clearing. Now palm trees seemed to mingle with the forest and soil had turned a bit sandy. Just where were we anyway? The first part of our journey had taken us across many hills. And was it ever slow moving! With no real road to travel on while on foot, a journey that should have been short seemed to be taking a lifetime to finish.

From what I had gathered before we left, the small town in Hidden Orchid Valley should have been the half way point… did the palm trees mean that we had almost made it there?

I tried to keep up my act when we landed, massaging one of my wings and not bothering to hide them. I took a seat on the ground next to a tree and watched Aiden to make sure that he did the same. He flopped down at the base of one and leaned back on it.

_Go to sleep. Take a nap, please… _I pleaded at him with my thoughts. I wasn't sure what would happen if he didn't get some rest now, but if someone didn't do _something _he was just going to drop out of the sky before we made it to town. Either that or his attitude was going to keep getting worse. Before he had been so… pleasant. Now I sensed more gloom and moodiness from him with every passing hour.

A few minutes passed and still, he continued to keep himself awake. The trained cleric in me was upset with him. Not only was he keeping himself from sleep, but he was bottling something up, something that obviously wasn't going to get any better unless he got it off his chest. He hadn't talked to me since we left unless he absolutely had to.

It had me irked. More now that things had calmed down a bit and I had time to think. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Hm?" he questioned, looking to me finally. "Yeah… why wouldn't I be?" His gaze once again returned to some random direction as if he were dodging me.

"You're worried." I pressed.

"I'm fine."

"Would you like to talk?"

"No, really, don't worry about it."

I scowled at him and he seemed to not even notice. "You'd feel better if you got it off your chest."

"It's personal. It's nothing to do with you so don't worry about it."

"Please?"

"Lady Catriona, I just don't want to talk is all."

I let out a sigh. So that certainly wasn't working. I had discovered early on that most of his feelings showed through his eyes but now he would barely even look at me and his tone had just gotten a little… angry. I closed my eyes, shaking my head slowly. I didn't like it.

A few moments of silence passed before I finally decided that plan "B" was in order. "How's your neck?" I questioned suddenly.

"What?"

"That cut you got on the side of your neck, you keep messing with it." I answered. Which wasn't totally untrue. I had seen him already a few times put his hand to it and cringe as if it bothered him a bit.

"It's fine."

I again frowned at him. "At least let me take a look at it. It wouldn't take much to get rid of it. What if it got infected?"

"I think I'd know." he said indignantly, watching me a bit warily now as I approached him.

Perhaps I had drawn things out too long? Or maybe my acting was just as clumsy as my feet. He seemed to know now that something was going on.

"Come on." I said.

He gave me a scowl. "You didn't really have a cramp in your wing did you?" he questioned. He once again made eye contact with me and it was apparent he'd figured me out. I tried not to look bothered but judging by how he began to get up already it could only be assumed that my attempt had failed miserably.

"Wait, I-I really don't know what you're talking about."

He wasn't going to listen. "I can't believe this." he grumbled more to himself than anything. He knew I had no choice but to follow him or get lost and captured. That had to have been what he was counting on as he turned his back to me and summoned his wings to take off. "We can't afford to waste any time or we'll get-"

I didn't let him finish. He had only made it maybe a foot off the ground before I made my last ditch effort to keep him there. "Sorry!" I shouted as I latched onto him from behind, my arms around his shoulders.

"What the-" he exclaimed, his eyes growing wide before my sleep spell took effect.

Perhaps it hadn't been the _best _idea. Clumsy me!

I let out a loud "Oomph!" as we both hit the ground. Unfortunately for me, he had fallen backwards. Right on me. He had been more exhausted than I thought, my sleep spell had met absolutely no resistance! I had expected at least enough to where _I _didn't have to try and catch him myself. So much for that idea.

"Ow…" I murmured after a few moments, still slightly dazed. At least _one _of us had a soft landing. Luckily his head had landed on my shoulder and not on my face. Well, if I could consider myself lucky at all at this point. "Ugh, why do you have to be so heavy?" I said, knowing he wouldn't hear it as I struggled to get out from under him.

What a mess… but at least now he wouldn't make himself sick if he hadn't already. I just hoped he wouldn't hate me when he woke up.


	12. Be Brave

**12**

**Be Brave**

Hours passed by and the shadows from the trees began to grow longer on the ground but still I allowed Aiden to sleep. He needed it. I had situated him with a pillow and a blanket from the pack we had acquired back at the manor. Even though it irritated me to have to knock him out like that… and that he had landed on me, I still found it in my heart to try to make him comfortable.

Besides, if he woke up in pain it was doubtful he would be in any better of a mood anyway. So far he had slept like a rock! Normally someone would stir a little in their sleep but he had yet to move a muscle.

Just how much had he exerted himself? It was beyond me how he could have still been flying earlier with how easy that spell had taken him down. I felt as though I should check on him to make sure that he was still alive. Never had it been heard of a mere sleep spell killing anyone but the question crossed my mind.

Seeing as how his bangs, which had fallen into his face, moved every once in a while… he was still breathing. He even snored every so often which was secretly amusing to me. For some reason he just didn't strike me as the type to snore.

I didn't mind the rest myself; not at all. I sat up against a tree near him, trying my best to stay alert. We weren't totally out of danger, we wouldn't be until we reached Archosaur. Despite the feeling of an approaching darkness, the forest was so peaceful.

As it got darker all around, fireflies began to emerge, floating effortlessly along in the air. Their light was comforting as well as the sounds of crickets chirping. A slight breeze blew every once in a while, carrying with it the scent of every wild flower in bloom. Perhaps the night wouldn't be so bad… I could keep watch, I wasn't that tired yet.

Despite my efforts to gather my courage, I still found myself inching closer and closer to Aiden as the skies grew darker and twilight gave way to nighttime. My imagination already played tricks on me and my thoughts wandered to more troubling things. What would I even do if something happened? What _could _I do? If only I could figure out what happened to kill that monster back in plume I could be a bit more brave! That meant I had power right? But with no idea how to use it, it was useless.

A sudden chill ran up my spine when a rustling in the brush caught my attention. I almost stopped breathing entirely to try and determine what it was that was nearby. It sounded so close!

What if it was _him_?

That thought chilled me to the bone. I still hadn't forgotten the pain he had caused me. Every emotion and sensation from my own death that I had pushed back from my thoughts all came rushing back to me now. I didn't want that again… anything but that!

_Calm down Cat_… _It's just an animal of some kind._ I told myself. But even so, my hand reached for the pack we had been given back at Arrowhead Manor. Attached to it was a sword that Edna had given to me. She had said that it used to be Roarke's from when he still practiced magic as a wizard.

That must have been a long time ago…

I felt bad about taking it but as I held it now it made me feel slightly safer. It was an odd sort of thing. I had seen others around plume with magic swords such as this. It looked like it should have been heavy yet when it was picked up it felt like it had no weight to it at all. Even so gripping the handle with both hands felt necessary as I shakily got to my feet and inched toward the noise.

"I-is someone there?" I stammered.

My eyes went wide and I lurched backwards as something erupted from the brush nearly right in my face! "Ah!" I cried out. Despite my efforts to keep my balance … I still ended up on the ground. How many times had I done so now since the beginning of this ordeal? My racing heart began to slow when it finally occurred to me what had me so worked up.

A bird.

Just a bird.

Well now who felt rather stupid and cowardly?

"What in the world is going on?" A voice questioned behind me. One I recognized.

I turned to see that Aiden had finally woken up. Probably partially my fault for screaming like a little girl over a bird. "N-nothing." I said with an involuntary stutter, getting myself up off the ground. I hastily brushed the dirt off and tried to act as though my previous outburst had never happened.

He sat up, rubbing at his eyes and pushing the blanket off. He looked genuinely confused for a moment or two but it all seemed to click for him in a matter of seconds. "We have to get moving." he said, hastily getting to his feet. He quickly began to stuff the few items I had gotten out back into the pack. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Well that certainly hadn't rubbed me the right way. "I was thinking that you were going drop like a fly if you didn't take a break." I retorted indignantly. "Besides, I kept watch."

He didn't seem impressed. "Oh really?" he questioned. "And what did you plan on doing if we were attacked?"

My cheeks flushed red, partially out of embarrassment but also out of anger. "I'm not completely helpless!"

"Well? What?"

I didn't reply. I wasn't sure what I would have done… I just stood there with my arms crossed, my gaze focused off to the side somewhere. I didn't want to look at him right now as upset as I was at him, myself….

The whole God-forsaken situation!

A brief silence fell over the both of us before he let out a sigh. "I-I'm sorry Lady Catriona… I didn't mean to be angry with you," he said finally, "but-"

I didn't allow him to finish his thought and just held the handle of the sword out to him. "Here," I snapped, "put it back with the pack, it's not like _I _can use it or anything."

He frowned at me but took it and attached it back where it had been. "Come on. I know it's dark but we can't stay here."

"Right." I grumbled. I summoned my wings, stretching them a bit in preparation for the flight. Normally flight was so enjoyable, but lately I had nearly grown to hate it. My bad mood didn't help it much either. Wrapped up in my own anger, I failed to realize just how silent the forest around us had gotten.

My wings stroked the air, ready to take flight, but Aiden stopped me in my tracks.

"Look out!" he shouted, latching onto my arm.

I wanted to yell at him that he was hurting me as he pulled me to him. It felt as though he intended to rip my arm off! All too soon the reasons why he had done so became apparent to me. The wind from an arrow lightly grazed across my cheek as it whistled by.

He had pulled me out of the way just in time for it to miss me! It landed with a thud in a nearby tree trunk instead of it's intended target in the back of my head. I was unable to move, frozen in fear. Had he hesitated just a split second that could have been the end of me.

"Are you alright?" Aiden questioned, loosening his arms around me though he continued to shield me with his wings.

I nodded. "Yeah…" I said breathlessly. "I-I'm okay."

"Well I must say." A familiar voice stated. "I'm impressed soldier."

My heart stopped. No, it couldn't be!

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Aiden demanded. He let go of me to face the direction the arrow had come from.

"I don't know many that would have seen that arrow coming." the voice continued to taunt.

"We have to run!" I said quietly to him. That was all I wanted to do was run, or fly. Just get away as fast as my wings would carry me. I didn't want to die! Not again…

"Looks like I'm going to have to get rid of your bodyguard first Lady Catriona. Such a shame. If you just didn't fight back this could be so painless." the assassin said, this time directly addressing me. It made me feel sick to my stomach to even hear his voice again.

"Stop hiding like a coward!" Aiden shouted. He took up his bow and notched it with an arrow.

Could he really take on this assassin? Someone so used to killing? I sensed fear from him but he didn't freeze up like I did, nor did he show any signs of backing down.

Our attacker stepped out from the shadows and the both of us tensed up. I tried to bite back the fear and ready myself to do… something. But what _could _I do? I had only fallen victim to this man despite any of my efforts to fight last time.

"Who's hiding?" The assassin said, standing in the moonlight. "I suppose you want to go down like a noble warrior?"

I could see more of him now than could be seen before. He wasn't quite like I had expected or imagined. I had always linked his voice to someone who look physically more imposing. While tall he was more slender than muscular and had short, wild silver hair. He was also pale, except for a mark that ran up his neck and onto his face. It looked like a burn, a rather recent injury from the looks of things.

His eyes were what I found terrifying. They were an electrifying color green but the look in them showed no sign of fear or regret at what he was about to do. Instead they nearly showed joy. Coming out and standing in plain sight like that; he was confident. He was toying with us and he would enjoy every second.

Aiden immediately took aim at him.

"All worked up and I don't even have a weapon aimed at you." The assassin mocked. He didn't raise his weapon. Instead he held the crossbow down by his side.

"Lady Catriona." Aiden said, keeping his voice low and never taking his eyes off the wing elf in front of him.

"What? What are you going to do?" I questioned.

"I need you to run. I'll hold him off but you need to keep flying to the north and don't stop until you reach a town where you can get help."

"But-"

"The elder, the leader of our people told me to keep you safe I have to honor that order."

"Even if it means your life?"

"Things at home will _never _be right again if _you _don't make it to Arch. So when I fire you get out of here."

My fists clenched. I wished he would just tell me what had him so upset, so bothered. But now wasn't the time anyway… if his life depended on my survival then no other choice was given to me but to listen to him.

Aiden had his full attention on our attacker now. "Put down your weapon." he ordered, pulling the sting on his bow back even further. I could sense a small bit of magic and the tip of the arrow seemed to light up a bit. A stun arrow?

"Make me." the man retorted.

That was all the prompting Aiden needed. He let go of the bowstring and the arrow streaked towards his target. "Now!" he shouted at me. "Go!"

I didn't hesitate to take off. My wings ached with the strain I put on them to fly fast, even after all the flying we had done earlier in the day. Fear made the pain tolerable.

I glanced back a moment to see an arrow streaking toward me. My eyes went wide. No time to move! I was still climbing in altitude. Pain was what the expected outcome of this was… but it never came. Before the arrow could reach me it was diverted by another arrow.

"Don't look back! Keep going!" Aiden shouted at me from the ground.

_Aiden! Please hang on! I'll get help I promise!_


	13. Fight Night

**13**

**Fight Night**

Once again, a tense stand-off. The assassin had avoided his first arrow and shot at the lady instead of directing his attention at who was attacking him. Something Aiden had been expecting. Even the assassin looked impressed by that last shot.

"Bravo. Certainly not what I expected from a post Wraith War soldier." the assassin said, still looking at the sky where the arrows had collided.

Aiden had yet another arrow notched and aimed at him already. "Do you even know what's going on? Why you were hired?" he demanded.

"Why should I care? I'm getting paid." The assassin replied, looking back to his opponent. He gave an amused smirk when he realized he was in the crosshairs. "Go ahead, take a shot at me, I promise I won't be as easy a target as that arrow."

A tense moment passed. What do to at this point… firing would be what the assassin expected of him…

The assassin moved suddenly, lifting his crossbow to take aim. No time for hesitation, shoot or be shot! He let go of the bow string, releasing the arrow to streak towards his target. All he needed to possibly get an upper hand was a stun! Everything seemed to move in slow motion and then…

The arrow struck nothing.

"Damn." Aiden breathed. It was as if his opponent had simply disappeared! He looked around frantically but there was no sign of him anywhere! With another arrow notched and ready to fire he stayed as silent as possible… listening.

_There!_

Alerted by the sound leaves being ripped from the trees, he moved, just in time to avoid the assassin's shot. Of _course _he had fired at his back! He spun, sending an arrow flying in retaliation. Then once again there was silence. A miss? He could only assume with the silence that he hadn't struck his target. Sensitive elf ears would have picked up any noise from a fall or even a hiss of pain.

Aiden took shelter behind a tree, pressing his back to it. Even if the other wing elf managed to get a shot at him it wouldn't be from behind this time. So much hiding! For all he knew this assassin could have fired that arrow as a distraction and headed for Lady Catriona.

_Time to take this fight where he can't hide_. He thought to himself.

With no hesitation he took flight, bursting through the canopy of the trees and into the open sky. He had been expecting to get fired at as soon as he met open space, but nothing. Regardless he flew higher into the serene deep blue of the night.

Within moments another wing elf took flight, rising above the treetops. Exactly what Aiden wanted. He whirled on the assassin and fired. It didn't seem to do any good, once again the arrow streaked by without doing any harm and his opponent was approaching fast!

Already he was beginning to re-think his strategy. Up here in the open, it was all up to skill, but even so… did he stand a chance?

* * *

I flew as fast as my wings would carry me. Not only my life depended on it this time but Aiden's as well! I couldn't let him down, I would never be able to forgive myself! I continued north as he had told me to and still, nothing but trees… How long would he be able to hold the assassin off?

It wasn't long before my wings ached too much to stay in the air. The fatigue gave me no other choice but to land… and when I did I took to running. The moonlight was enough to see by thankfully, and the trees seemed to thin some. More palm trees. Where was I by now?

Exhaustion was quickly getting the better of me. My heart pounded and my breaths came shorter and shorter. My mind screamed at me to continue through it all…

But it seemed that my own clumsy legs had other plans.

Once again, I began to fall. My body should have been used to the abuse by now as many times as I had done something amazingly stupid! I lacked even the energy to scream as the ground rushed up to meet me… hard.

How much longer would I have to be helpless like this? While I lay on the ground, panting like a dog in the summer heat, Aiden could be dying! He could be dying and I lacked the endurance to find anyone to help him!

"You said you'd be back by nightfall so I came looking for you, _that's _what I'm doing out here."

Voices? I forced my breathing to slow and picked myself up.

"Well the area's just a little bigger than I remember. Besides, what around here seriously has the gall to attack _me_?" another voice stated.

I was sure of it this time! There were people up ahead. I didn't know what kind or who exactly but hopefully they would help me.

Wait, what if they were from plume?

I had been ready to sprint up there until the thought occurred to me. I stepped more lightly and forced my breathing to be more silent.

"That's not the point, the rest of them are worried about you."

"So _you _come out here alone?"

"Hey! I came too!" a male voice said indignantly. From what I could tell the other two sounded female.

"You really know how to pick them don't you? May as well be alone."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

I got closer, hiding myself behind a tree and chancing to peek around the trunk. I never got to see what was going on, instead a cough escaped me. It was quiet but those people, whoever they were had to have heard it. They too went silent as I tried to cover my mouth, only a little too late.

"Did you hear that?"

I could only stay as still as possible, all but curled up in the brush. Silence fell for a short period of time and I was beginning to wonder. Had they left? I tried not to make a sound while I peered around the tree trunk. No one was there. Nothing.

Had they been scared off? What if there hadn't been anything there in the first place and it was just my sanity slipping? At this point who would doubt that…

Just then a loud rustling caught my attention. The brush that hid me had been moved! I whirled in that direction, and froze before I even saw who was there. What now? My eyes were clenched shut, just waiting for whatever came next. Knowing my luck it was more of the guards from plume ready to drag me off! Though that's not what it had sounded like in the first place…

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" one of them demanded.

"Oh my… Kyna, cool off a second, she's just a kid." The second voice was much softer.

I chanced to open my eyes. I was still on the ground with my back against the tree trunk and in front of me stood three people. One of them knelt down, a wing elf. She had dark hair and green eyes, exactly what color was hard to determine in such low light. Her face clearly showed concern as she helped me to my feet.

"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost, I'm sorry if my friend startled you."

Another woman, the one who had been so confrontational earlier, crossed her arms as if apologizing for her had insulted her just a bit. She seemed just the opposite of the wing elf. When her icy blue gaze rested on me I immediately felt intimidated. She looked much more imposing.

"I-I'm okay." I stammered before quickly adding, "My friend needs help…"

"We've got this, don't worry about a thing." The third of the party stated. A man. He had semi long, light colored hair. He looked human, like the other woman with him. He began to come forward but was blocked by a hand on the shoulder.

"We don't even know what the problem is yet." the human woman said flatly. She turned her attention to me again "So what is it you've been running from?"

Her very gaze made me feel like I could say something wrong at any given moment. "I-I don't know his name… but he's an archer…"

She didn't seem ready to take any action quite yet.

"He's been paid to … to come after us."

At that bit of information she looked a little more interested, and so did the other two in the group, though judging by the wing elf's exasperated expression she wasn't interested for the same reasons.

"Where and what does he look like?" The human woman asked.

"S-South of here and… and I-I… uh…"

"What does he look like?" she questioned again as I stammered as if I weren't spitting out the facts fast enough.

"T-tall? Short silver hair.. Green eyes and-"

"Talks in a half-whisper no matter what?" she finished. A wicked smile had worked it's way across her sun-tanned face, causing a scar that ran parallel to her cheek bone to curve.

"Y-yeah…" I replied.

"Consider it taken care of."

"Oh no… Kyna!" the wing elf shouted after her but she was already headed south. So did this mean that I'd gotten help?

"Lillian! You and Daemon get the kid back to town! That's an order!" the woman, Kyna, paused to shout back before taking off yet again.

The wing elf let out a sigh and shook her head. "There she goes again." she mumbled.

* * *

Perhaps luring this assassin out in the open hadn't been one of his best ideas, but for now it seemed to work. No matter how hard he was breathing or how many scrapes he had accumulated from close calls, he was still alive… still flying. How much longer could he keep this up? For now the fight had calmed and they both hovered in a stand-off.

"You know boy… This has been fun, you put up a good fight. But…" The man said, his voice louder than usual but the whisper tone still remained.

Aiden didn't answer. Never had he even had so much as a training partner that talked so much.

"… you're soft. You aim to kill but then you hesitate and redirect your shot."

"No one asked you your opinion." Aiden spat back. He was right though… Never in all of his life had he even so much as shot at another person. Stray wraith creatures, yes, he had killed many, but this sort of confrontation was new ground. How much experience had this man had that he would notice such split second movements?

"Perhaps if you hadn't been so afraid to just kill me you could have finished this by now."

"And why has that mindset not helped you finish me?" Aiden challenged.

The assassin smirked. "You're just too much fun to play with."

Aiden's expression turned sour. _Play _with? He was snapped back to the present as his opponent rushed him yet again. He took aim and fired, a sloppy shot but it seemed to connect.

Finally!

The assassin fell backwards into the treetops and Aiden followed quickly. If this man would give him no other choice but to kill him then so be it!

He hesitated once he neared the canopy of the forest. Something wasn't right, but he had thought too little too late. The assassin burst through the treetops, barreling into him with his shoulder hard enough to almost knock the wind from him. Before he knew it he was falling from the sky, the assassin on top of him.

He struggled to knock him off, his wings couldn't catch air this way! Tree branches gave under their weight, snapping loudly as both of them continued to plummet. The assassin let go of him at the last second to pull up, allowing Aiden to hit the ground hard.

A cry of pain escaped him. His whole body was in pain and he couldn't catch his breath! Still he forced himself to roll over in an attempt to stand again.

The assassin landed a short distance in front of him. Aiden could see clearly that his arrow had made contact but nowhere vital… it had hit him in the left arm, it was no longer there but the trail of blood running from the wound was enough to clue anyone in.

"And now, I finish this." the assassin said dangerously, lifting the crossbow and taking aim.

This was it. He tried to stand but he couldn't, his legs wouldn't cooperate with him, they wouldn't move even! It was over…

He lowered his head and clenched his eyes shut. He heard the arrow release.

But felt nothing.

When he looked back up the assassin was no longer looking at him, instead his angered gaze focused elsewhere. Aiden followed it, shocked to see another person. A woman.

She seemed to make sure that the assassin was looking at her as she broke the arrow in half and nonchalantly tossed the splintered ends over her shoulder. "Still picking fights with people half your skill level I see, Jarlath."

Aiden stared in disbelief. She had _caught _the arrow?

"This is none of your business woman." the assassin growled. The mere sight of her had him whipped into a fury. His eyes before had showed a sadistic glee, now they showed something closer to hatred and loathing.

"Is it not?" the woman prompted. "Our team was hired to clean up the trash around this area, I think you qualify."

"Enough talk." the assassin, Jarlath stated coolly.

The woman smirked before taking a stance, fists clenched. "Agreed."

* * *

_Yaaaay Kyna. Just to clear this up… Kyna is not me… When I made the character in game I based her look off of this character that I had already written. In game, people know me as Kyna but me and this Kyna are different characters entirely, I just stole her name because I liked it…_

_Does that make any sense or did I just massively confuse people?_

_In any case! Thanks for reading and please do review!_


	14. Odd Tiger

_Sorry for the delay on this people! You should thank Keph and that last video of his for inspiring me to at least finish this fan fiction before quitting PWI. I have it planned out until the end, which I hope to be quite explosive._

_Anyways, as you'll possibly notice, nearly all the author's notes have been taken out of previous chapters. I've been doing a lot of editing and since I've changed up so much, they're not really needed anymore. I didn't change anything major, just mostly adding in small details here and there, trying to improve on things that are not my strengths, make my style flow better, so on and so forth._

_Anyways, without further adieu, here is my 14__th__ chapter. Thanks to all you guys that are still reading this._

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**14**

**Odd Tiger**

My introduction to the two I was left behind with had been a quick one. At least now I knew their names. They were very much in a hurry to get me to town, so much so that the blade master, Daemon, had taken to carrying me despite my protests that I could walk.

It felt rather awkward being carried like a back pack…

"So…" Daemon began, breaking a tense silence. "What does Jarlath want with a pretty little lady like you Miss Catriona?"

A blush came to my cheeks, causing them to burn slightly. "I-I um… who?" I stammered. "Who's Jarlath?"

"He's some archer, kills for money. Sounds exactly like the person you described."

"Really?" I questioned. So that was his name… Jarlath. The name sounded just as harsh and unforgiving against my ears as his half whisper voice. "How do you know who he is?"

"Long story." Daemon replied.

"That woman is going to help my friend right?" I questioned. Aiden had me worried, but the way that woman ran off before. It didn't seem that she was at all concerned with saving anything.

"You mean Kyna?"

"Don't worry. She'll make sure your friend lives if only to spite Jarlath." Lillian replied from up above. She had taken to flight since her wings were faster and also to serve as a look-out. Despite her reassuring words, she herself seemed worried about something, her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes scanned our surroundings.

"Lillian! Can you see camp yet?" Daemon shouted up to her.

"Yes, we're close. I'll stay there with Miss Catriona, you take someone with you to help Kyna."

"Got it."

It wasn't long before a few huts came into view. By now there were very few trees and what trees _did _grow out of the sand had giant palm leaves… not something I had seen much of. There was nothing of the like around plume until one headed further south.

The moon cast it's pale light across a white sandy beach, and could be seen reflected along with the stars in the calm waters. Perhaps I could have actually enjoyed the sight if I weren't so worried. "Where are we?"

"This, would be Valley of the Hidden Orchid." Daemon answered.

One hut stood out a bit. A camp fire burned in front of it and a few figures could be seen loitering about. This hut seemed to be where they were taking me. Just how many of them were there?

As we approached the edge of the camp I could better make out the rest. A few had very animalistic traits, the bodies of humans but the ears and tails of animals. I stared in fascination at them for a moment. The Untamed? I had never met one… There seemed to be yet another human there as well.

"Hey! They're back!" One of the Venomancers shouted, prompting yet two more people to come out of the hut, one a large Werebeast in his humanoid form… the other… the other confused me.

Daemon seemed to light up when this odd man walked out. "Well, look who finally made it back!" he exclaimed.

The odd one came forward with a toothy smile to meet us as we slowed from a near run to a walk. "Just made it." he answered.

So in this group I now knew there were three humans, one wing elf, and four untamed… well at least I thought this odd man was untamed. He didn't resemble the Werebeast with him, instead he looked more like one of the Venomancers… just bigger… and male…

I had been told all my life that male untamed all looked like that other Werebeast, fur from head to toe, an animal-like face…

This one was different. His eyes were bright blue, very cat like. Out of his black and messy hair protruded two cat ears with the stripes of a white tiger. He even had a tiger's tail, which stayed in constant motion behind him.

"So." he began, "Brought me a present did you Daemon?"

"Huh?" I thought aloud. I went wide eyed when his gaze rested on me "What!" I exclaimed. My reaction was met with laughter from the rest of the group.

"It's okay miss, I'm just joking." the weird untamed said, giving me a good-hearted smile. He seemed to search the small group of us for something, then one thick black eyebrow went up. "Where's Kyna? I was told you two went out to look for her… and that girl is too cute to be her."

I didn't know how to feel about that statement. That could have been an insult aimed at that Kyna woman… or a compliment aimed at me. Or both.

Daemon allowed me to get down, I felt much less awkward now, but still, this group being so new to me, it all made me nervous.

"We found her." Daemon stated.

"Then what happened?"

Lillian sighed, landing gracefully at Daemon's side. "She found Jarlath."

* * *

This woman didn't joke. Aiden stared in disbelief at the fight before him, grateful that the assassin's attention had been diverted. These two seemed matched in skill level… and from the looks of it the assassin was no longer playing around…

On the other hand, the woman wore a wicked smirk, fighting a crossbow with nothing but her fists.

They had been fighting for quite a while already. Neither had managed to land a solid blow on the other yet. She had gotten close to him a few times but each time he slipped away before too much damage could be done. Likewise, she wouldn't allow him a chance to get range on her or aim well.

Aiden tore his attention away from the fight. He took a deep breath, attempting again to move. His bow had landed a few feet from him, if he could reach it maybe he could finally put an arrow in that killer while he was distracted. That woman might not be happy with him but it would end his problem with this guy… for good.

He pushed himself up with his arms gasped in pain before sinking back down. What was wrong with him? He had hit the ground so hard. Since, his body refused to work with him! His legs would barely move and even when they did the pain that issued from his back was nearly unbearable.

A decrease in the noise and movement caught his attention, once again the blade master woman was standing between him and his attacker, fists at the ready. She and her opponent both seemed winded.

"You," she said quietly, the first words she had aimed at Aiden since she had arrived. "What's wrong, why aren't you moving?" she questioned, never taking her eyes off her opponent. She wouldn't be taken off guard by a sudden move.

Aiden was taken aback by the sudden question. So she hadn't forgotten he was there. "I-I can't…" he replied hesitantly after a moment.

"Damn…" she muttered under her breath, a frown coming to her face. "Well that complicates things…"

She put her full attention on Jarlath. He stared her down for a moment but he seemed distracted, his expression even more angry and bothered than before. The human didn't hear it, but with the sharpened senses of a Wing Elf, Aiden could make out the sound of a loud roar that echoed through the forest.

"What's the matter Jarlath?" the woman said mockingly, "Not worried about something are you?"

"We'll finish your grudge later, Kyna." He grumbled suddenly, spitting her name out as if the very mention of it offended him. In a flourish of feathers his hawk like wings appeared.

"What the- Hey!" Kyna shouted after him in surprise as he took off, leaving the dust to swirl in the area he had previously been standing. She looked as though she was ready to give chase, but she paused as another roar echoed through the trees, close enough for her human ears to detect.

Much to Aiden's surprise, instead of tensing, up in anticipation for another fight, the woman took a much more casual stance. It was as if she knew what was headed their way.

"Wh-what's that? What chased that guy off?" Aiden questioned, the confusion obvious on his face.

"Tiergan."

Almost as if on cue a giant white tiger burst through the brush into the small clearing. Such a magnificent looking creature while in form! The large cat paused, raised its head to the air and tried to catch a scent. "Heh… ran off did he?" it questioned, sounding satisfied with itself.

Aiden stared in disbelief. He had heard stories of the Werebeast. Even seen a few in the city from time to time, but never in form like this. Never before in his life had he ever seen such a large cat! Of everything in form, the only thing that set this Werebeast apart from looking like any other tiger were the eyes. One could see the intelligence in those sky blue eyes.

"About damn time you returned." The woman grumbled.

He laughed a bit before he began to change, swirl of blue light enveloping him. When it disappeared Aiden was shocked. Tiergan didn't look like any barbarian he had ever seen before. Where did all the fur go?

Standing where the beast had been before was now something that resembled a human man more… Just who were these people?

"While I can't say I'm happy that you scared Jarlath off before I could kill him," Kyna began, her arms crossed, "I could use your help getting the boy back to town. His friend is probably worried."

"So you've seen Lady Catriona?" Aiden questioned. He did his best to ignore being called a boy… he surely wasn't in any position to be outwardly indignant. He was still in a world of pain, just keeping his head up was a challenge.

"So that's her name; that pretty wing elf girl back in town?"

He let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Yeah…" he all but whispered.

So this was the help she had gotten. Some odd bunch of people she had found! From what he could tell, so far there was a Blademaster that didn't even feel the need to use blades, and a Werebeast that wasn't purely Untamed… _Couldn't she have found a cleric? _He found himself thinking as he let his cheek rest in the dirt. It even hurt to breathe.

"Hey kid… you alright?" He heard Tiergan question but he lacked even the energy to answer.

"I'm not sure exactly what happened but we need to get him to Lillian. Fast."

* * *

_TADA!_

_Hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope I'll be a little quicker with the updates from now on_

_-is shot- Yeah I know you've heard that one before…._

_Anyways, I still don't plan on totally giving this one up so stay tuned!_


	15. Mercenaries

**A/N~ **_Hooray, another chapter! I'm really pushing to get this out you guys, especially after that epiphany I had. The ending to this is going to be sooooooooo freaking perfect! I just have to make it there first lol. There's a lot to build up to. Hopefully I can keep up the interest and the pace! Thanks for keeping up with me so far all of those who keep reading and especially those who give me feedback, you guys are why I keep writing this! As always, read, enjoy, and please oh please oh please let me know what you think! _

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**15**

**Mercenaries**

"Buddy! Stop!" Shouted a Venomancer, her cat-like tail swaying behind her as she ran. In front of her was her large rock pet, which seemed to have gone on a rampage… Right after the Wizard in the bunch.

"Ienessa! Call it off!" the wizard cried.

"I'm trying!" she retorted, her ears drooping. "He's not very well trained yet, I just caught him the other day… Besides! You didn't have to tell him that rock you threw into the water was his distant cousin!"

"He's a rock, he's not supposed to understand that!"

I couldn't help but find some humor in the situation despite all of my worries. Besides, what could I do to help? If it was Ienessa's pet I didn't want to harm it… Even some of the others in the group didn't seem to be taking this so seriously. It made me wonder if this sort of thing happened around them often.

"Daemon! Help would be nice you know!" the wizard shouted, making a pass by the fire again where most of the others still sat.

The Blademaster seemed to consider it a moment. "Alright, I'll help you Aleou, but not until you say, 'I am squishy, and Daemon is awesome.'"

"WHAT?" Aleou shouted, sending the Blademaster a poisonous look. "No!"

"Then it looks like I'm not going to help you."

"Stupid Meathead!" the Wizard shot back, the thunderous steps of the golem behind him nearly drowning him out.

"Well then, I'm glad you like running in a dress..."

"It's not a dress! It's robes!"

Lillian let out a sigh as she took a seat next to me, away from everyone else. With her she carried a cup full of water. "I swear, sometimes I'm amazed we accomplish anything." she said. She had been taking care of a few things inside the hut, somewhat unaware of their antics until she stepped outside.

"Isn't someone going to help him?" I questioned. While watching him run was a guilty amusement, it had to stop somehow.

She didn't jump right on it. "Here," she said, holding the cup out to me. "I got this for you. I figured that you would be thirsty."

"Oh… thanks…" I said slowly, taking it. In truth the thought of being thirsty hadn't even crossed my mind. It was still focused elsewhere for the most part.

"It's not a problem." She said with a smile. "If you need anything else just ask."

I nodded, deciding to sip at the water for now. My mouth _was _rather dry… The others hadn't made it back with Aiden yet and every second that ticked by made me more and more nervous.

"GAAH!" Aleou suddenly screamed. It seemed that the giant golem had finally caught up with him and it had him in a bear hug. He flailed, kicking his feet frantically. "I swear if I have to use magic on this, I'll kill it!"

"Buddy! What are you doing? Put him down!" Ienessa shouted.

Lillian shook her head. Even though we weren't close to the golem, she lifted her hand and a soft light seemed to float from it. It drifted through the air to the Venomancer's pet and the golem seemed to waver. It released the wizard and then soon after, it tumbled backwards with a great crash to the ground.

I couldn't help but stare. "A sleep spell? From this distance?" I questioned.

"Well yes." She laughed a bit. "Once you've been stuck with a group like this you learn fast. They're quite demanding on just one healer. Sometimes we have to hire a little outside help."

"So that kind of power and range is normal?"

"Well sure it is. I'm nothing special."

I felt instantly … wimpy… "Oh." I murmured. Just how sheltered had I been?

She seemed to catch on pretty quickly. It wasn't that she had said anything wrong, but still, she started to apologize. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound so… so uh…"

I didn't really look at her. "No really it's fine." It wasn't as though I was angry at her or anything. Just perhaps a little angry at myself. Either way a change in subject was a good idea. Maybe it would make my wait seem shorter. "So… what is it you guys do anyway?"

"We're a mercenary team." she replied. "Kinda hard to believe sometimes with the way we act huh?" Her gaze was focused ahead on the rest of her team. Things had calmed down now that the runaway golem had been tranquilized. Even so, the ribbing between Daemon and Aleou continued as the wizard checked over his gear to make sure no damage had been done.

"Aww, checking your dress for rips?"

"They're _robes_! Meathead."

A slight smile came to her face at the altercation. "We work well together when it comes down to it though. We were sent here to clean up a small wraith invasion."

My eyebrows furrowed. I didn't know much about mercenaries myself, just that they were soldiers paid to fight. None of them seemed very soldier-like to me, nor did there seem to be a problem here at all. "Doesn't look like there's anything here to fight."

"Well not now." she replied with a grin. "We got rid of them all. Now all that's left to do is go back to Arch to get our payment and find another job."

Arch. Had my ears had the ability to move they most certainly would have perked at that word. The name of the town I had to get to. "So you're all headed to Archosaur then?" I questioned suddenly.

"Well, yes, we leave in the morning."

"Can we come with you?" I said before I even had time to think it out. It must have sounded so rude, inviting myself along like that. Perhaps it was a selfish thought, but with such a large group, we wouldn't have to worry so much about Jarlath, or about anyone else even. "I-I mean… well… it's just…"

She didn't look angry with me at all, instead she only continued to smile. "I'm sure you could ask Tiergan when he gets back. "

I frowned. Right, when he got back. Hopefully with Aiden. So how much more time had passed without a sign of them?

Lillian fell oddly silent, her gaze searching the distance. After a moment she stood to face the direction which we had come in earlier. "I think I see them…" She said, though the tone of her voice didn't sound positive.

I stood as well, straining my eyes to see in the dark. I did see a few figures approaching. A larger one on all fours and a smaller figure running beside it. Only two? Where was the third?

My heart sank. If Aiden had been with them he would be flying right? For a few moments I managed to fight back the urge to fly out there to meet them instead of waiting for them to get close enough. They were still too far away, it could still possibly just be a few people passing by?

I almost hoped for that. If there were not three of them returning… I would rather that my thoughts and worries were wrong.

As they approached, the clearer I could see. It became apparent to me that it was in fact the two mercenaries, Tiergan and Kyna, and Kyna seemed to be keeping something on Tiergan's back. Something or someone…

"Oh no…" I murmured. There wasn't a second thought as my wings were summoned and I took flight, hurrying out to meet them with Lillian not far behind.

"Catriona, wait, maybe you should stay here with everyone else and I'll go!" Lillian shouted after me but I ignored her.

The two on the ground seemed to notice us and slowed down to a stop as we reached them. So it was true… On the Werebeast's back was Aiden.

Lillian swooped down ahead of me to land first, but even at the distance I could hear the conversation.

The Blademaster took her hand from Aiden's back, no longer required to stabilize him now that they had stopped. She bent over, holding her knees and breathing hard. They certainly hadn't been taking their time it seemed. "We made it here as quickly as we could." she said breathlessly.

"What happened?" Lillian questioned, sounding worried.

"I'm not exactly sure, but he passed out on the way here… even before that he couldn't get up… I think he's still got some time left though." Kyna replied through gasps of air.

"Come on, help me move him."

I landed just as they managed to carefully remove him from Tiergan's back. He didn't move or even so much as make a sound! My gut churned while my thoughts began to run over the worst case scenarios. "Will he be okay?" I questioned frantically, attempting to get closer.

Lillian didn't answer my question. "Catriona, please stay back." she said instead.

But why? How bad was it? I paused in my tracks at her command though, despite myself and the thoughts that raced through my head. She could help him couldn't she? From the way the Blademaster had spoken to her before it seemed that the others had some kind of faith in her.

At the same time… her expression looked troubled. With just a look at Kyna, the Blademaster moved so that she was between myself and the rest of them. It was almost like she knew exactly what Lillian had wanted.

"She needs to concentrate so just stay where you are." she said to me, not quite as breathless as before.

I nodded in return, watching from my poor vantage point. Even though Kyna blocked my view slightly, I could still see where Aiden lay on the ground and Lillian sat beside him. He had scrapes everywhere from near misses, but there was no real arrow wound to be seen. A small stream of red was visible at the corner of his lips, what had Jarlath done to him? How was he so … hurt?

Without any further delay the area around Lillian began to glow a soft blue. She closed her eyes to concentrate on her healing spell. For a few moments the look on her face was serene as she focused but her forehead creased with worry. No matter how much time passed, nothing seemed to be changing.

"What's wrong?" Tiergan asked her quietly, nearly too quietly for my elf ears to hear.

She hesitated to say anything but her eyebrows furrowed even further. "I-I'm trying… but… I don't know that… "

My eyes went wide and my heart skipped a beat. One could only guess what she didn't want to say in front of me. "No! You have to keep trying he'll make it!" I shouted, rushing forward before I even thought about it. There had to be something … anything within my ability that was able to save him.

Kyna caught me by the arm before I could get too far. "Stay where you are, if you want your friend to live you have to let her concentrate!"

"Let go!" I shouted, pulling against her grip, which didn't budge in the least.

"Please Miss Catriona calm down!" Tiergan said, but I wasn't hearing any of it.

I shoved the Blademaster as hard as I could, and much to my surprise it worked. She let go of me as if something had shocked her and even stumbled backwards a bit.

I dropped to my knees next to Lillian, earning myself a bewildered stare from her. "I'm a Cleric too, I should be able to do something!" I exclaimed, obviously frustrated at myself.

_Calm down Cat, focus! _I told myself, eyes closed. I just had to remember what grandmother had taught me. She couldn't have skimped on my cleric training that much, though she had made sure that situations like these never happened to me. Damn my inexperience! Within moments energy flowed through me.

Determination alone wouldn't cut it, I had to give this energy direction…

The casting of this spell was certainly draining, just as I had remembered from only using it a few times before. When my eyes opened, still … nothing had changed. Lillian still hadn't given up yet but one cast of my own spell just wasn't enough.

_No! You can't die, I won't let it happen! _My thoughts cried, as I closed my eyes to try again. Even if it took multiple tries at such an exhausting spell I wouldn't quit until my energy ran out or … or the worst happened.

Only moments later, a hand gripped my shoulder. "Catriona… you can stop now."


	16. Potential

A/N~ _Omg, yes this is a pretty short chapter but it really felt like it had to stop where it did to start the next chapter with a slight change of pace. Anyway, enjoy! And Merry Christmas!_

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**16**

**Potential**

The first time I heard the words spoken they didn't quite register to me. "Catriona, you can relax." The voice came to me again, Lillian's voice.

Hesitantly I allowed my concentration to fade. My heart still had yet to slow from its rapid pace. What did she mean? Relax? Cautiously my eyes opened, my vision blurry at first from tears that had managed to escape me. I blinked them away, and finally my gaze was met with a sight that I had wanted to see.

Aiden still had yet to move, but even the small cuts and scrapes he had acquired were gone. Instead of lying in front of me, barely clinging to life, his chest rose and fell with the steady breathing of sleep. What a relief!

"Are you alright?" Lillan asked me.

"Fine." I replied breathlessly. Now that everything had calmed I felt as though I could simply pass out. Once again, every inch of my being felt exhausted. How many times had that been the case for me now? But for once, I was calm. For once on this already hard journey, the source of this weakness was sheer relief.

I barely reacted to a light tug on my arm, prompting me to get up. "Come on, let's get the two of you back to camp." Lillian said as she helped me to my feet.

"So … I did it?" I questioned, still incredulous.

Lillian smiled at me. "Yes, you were a lot of help. You did well."

It seemed that the remaining members of the team had questions to ask when we returned, but Lillian waved them off assuring them that all would be explained later. Tiergan… that odd Untamed, he seemed pensive most of the way back to camp, while the Blademaster had yet to say a word.

There were only two huts near the campsite, and it looked like the mercenaries had occupied both of them during their stay. Even so, the huts were small and the floor space inside was covered with their things. Out of the mess Lillian managed to clear a spot big enough for Aiden and myself…

We had to stay close, which may have been awkward had I been any less tired. I had to admit, having Aiden, asleep not even an arm's length away from me made me feel even more secure. Just knowing that we were both alive and well…

With the light sound of the water lapping at the shore outside and the crickets singing their beautiful lullaby, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. The first sound sleep I had experienced since the journey began. Perhaps my prayers for no nightmares would prove to have been heard.

* * *

"Well I don't like it." Kyna said tersely, her arms crossed. Instead of sitting around the fire like nearly everyone else she had opted to stand. She didn't expect this meeting Tiergan had called to be a long one. It seemed that she had thought wrong.

Everyone's faces could be seen clearly in the firelight as it flickered, spitting glowing bits of ash into the air every so often to land harmlessly in the sand. At this mercenary meeting, most seemed thrilled at their leader's proposal. The possibility for a second Cleric in the team could make things much easier.

Kyna, on the other hand, seemed to be seeing the downsides of the particular Cleric in question.

Lillian frowned at her, "But Kyna, they are going the same way we are, it only makes sense that we could at least help them along their way." Of course she would say something like that. She was always so kind, perhaps even too much so at times.

"And what? Without any kind of pay? There's nothing in it for us. We're mercenaries, not babysitters."

Tiergan never failed to miss a beat. He smiled a bit, enough for his white fangs to show. "Oh don't be so harsh Kyna, that's where I think you're wrong. That Cleric has potential. Even in her panicked state she helped Lillian pull her friend back from the brink of death. You can't say that's not slightly impressive."

None of them doubted Lillian's ability as a good healer. To hear that she had needed help seemed to be a shock to quite a few of them. "Wow, so the kid was that bad off was he?" Aleou questioned. "No wonder both clerics looked so exhausted."

A concerned look crossed the face of the only pure Werebeast in the group, Cyrus. His tiger-like facial features weren't the best at showing his thoughts. The tone of his deep baritone voice showed the emotion more clearly than his face ever could. "You're okay Lillian?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine… really." Lillian replied quickly. She smiled softly and waved a hand in a dismissive manner, a light chuckle coming out with her words. "I'll just be sleeping very soundly tonight."

"I think it's safe to say that as young as Catriona is, she must have power. Especially if the other Wing Elf was barely clinging to life as you say." The wizard of the group said thoughtfully. He sent a sideways glance back to the hut where the Cleric in question currently slept. "And she is rather… cute…"

Daemon didn't even allow him another word. "I saw her first!"

"Can we be serious for a second?" Kyna snapped irritably at her companions. "I never said this cleric didn't have potential, but I don't think that it is a good idea to bring her along." She knew what Tiergan saw in this new Cleric. She had seen his thoughts clearly in his eyes when the Wing Elf had shoved past her. She may have done it out of fear for her friend's life, but she had that quality… the same quality the rest of the team seemed to have in common. An almost reckless determination.

"You know as well as I do that we could use another cleric." he continued. "Don't tell me you're just angry because she added a little lightning when she shoved you."

Kyna sent him a glare in return. Especially now that he'd successfully put all attention on her.

A Venomancer in the group gained a more worried expression. "Are you alright?" Ienessa asked timidly, her cat-like ears laying back on her head.

"I'm fine." Kyna snapped back. "As if anything from that weakling would do _me _any harm."

Tiergan raised an eyebrow, "Then why are you so against taking them along?"

"You saw who it was after them. Jarlath only attacks when he's been paid."

"Or if it's you." Daemon chimed in.

"Kyna…" Lillian said in her usual tone. Soft spoken, yet stern. "They're only kids. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that if we keep them around we would be made targets, and I understand that."

"Do you really?" Kyna challenged. "I've only known Jarlath to take large payments. I intervened just to boil his blood, after that I'm done. Whoever wants those two dead has a lot of money and possibly a lot of power."

At that. all fell silent save for the crackling of the campfire they all sat around.

Aleou let out a sigh as if he had something on his mind that he had to say but didn't want to. He massaged a temple with his hand for a second before he finally got the resolve. "I hate to admit it, but she does have a point."

"I think so as well." The second Venomancer in the group said. It was rare that Talia lent her sultry voice to many topics. "We don't know who wants these two or what they want them for. It may be in our best interests to say out of it."

Tiergan shook his head. "I'm surprised Kyna."

"With?"

"I guess you _do_ have a valid point, but I've never known you to fear anything."

She regarded him coolly. He knew her well enough. Being accused of being afraid was something hated to a very high degree. "Having to fight off anyone after them with no pay would only be a waste of our time and could possibly hurt our chances at getting the big jobs later. Not to mention she's not strong enough for this kind of work. It has nothing to do with fear or her _potential_." she retorted. "I voiced my opinion, you can take it or leave it."

"You should really relax" their leader said, his bright blue eyes trained on her. Everything he always took in stride and his expression was never contradictory to that fact. He gave her a reassuring smile. "If it makes you feel better, if this gets to be too much we'll merely leave them at the nearest town. We've been looking for another permanent Cleric for a long time, and if the Archer comes with her all the better. Their age will make them easier to train for the specifics we need and, besides, once they get to Arch they may not even decide to come along. But you saw as well as I did what Miss Catriona is capable of. Just imagine if she were trained well; it could be worth the trouble."

"Yeah, I get it Tiergan." She replied irritably.

"We'll leave it to a vote since we've heard both sides of the argument." Tiergan said, knowing well he had the advantage. "All in favor of helping a few kids to Arch and possibly having a second Cleric trained by Lillian, raise a hand."

Of the eight around the fire, five of them raised hands in favor of taking them along. Much to Kyna's dislike, the odds weren't in her favor.

"Well it looks like you're still outnumbered Kyna." Tiergan chimed in, a smile on his face.

Her expression didn't change from the slight scowl she already wore. She had seen it coming. "Thanks for stating the obvious." She grumbled. "I don't know about you but I'm getting some sleep, we have traveling to do in the morning. And who knows what kind of trouble we could run into." She added pointedly. She turned to take her leave but paused and looked back over her shoulder at the sound of her name.

"You know that every time one of us joined this team, the rest of the team was taking a chance on us." Lillian said.

"I know." Kyna replied. "I don't have a good feeling about this one, but I'll honor Tiergan's decision. It's going to be different this time." With that said she took her leave. Perhaps she didn't much care for this Wing Elf, but this ran more than just a mere dislike. Something else deep in her gut told her that things would change if these two agreed to come along, and she wasn't sure if that change would be for the better, or for worse.

* * *

A/N_~ Ta-da! Chapter 16 complete! Thank you for reading and don't forget to review! Sorry if this seems sort of like filler lol, I have to give information/set up for the main plot of my story somehow… Yeah, that's right, I haven't even gotten to the juicy part yet… just you guys wait…._


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